204 



THE CANADIAN H0RTICFLTURI8T. 



PICKLES. 



Thrifty housekeepers are pleased to 

 have an abundance of pickles, as they 

 are convenient to help make out a 

 variety when one is obliged (as is often 

 the case) to get up a meal unexpectedly. 

 They are delicious, and wholesome too, 

 if properly prepared. It is a mistaken 

 notion that fruit which is too poor for 

 canning or for other uses, will do well 

 enough for pickles. A good quality of 

 fruit should always be chosen, large and 

 well ripened, but not mellow. Perhaps 

 the most generally used of all fruits for 

 pickles are peaches and pears. A thin 

 peeling should be taken from the latter 

 with a sharp knife, and, if large, cut in 

 halves and the core removed. If small 

 they may be pickled whole and the 

 stems left on if desired. The peaches 

 must also be pared or rubbed very 

 thoroughly with a flannel cloth to re- 

 move the fuzz or down which is very 

 unpleasant to the mouth. 



A very good receipt for a plain, sweet 

 pickle, is this : To every quart of good 

 cider vinegar — and nothing except good 

 vinegar should ever be used — add two 

 heaping teaspoonfuls of white or best 

 brown sugar, with two level tablespoon- 

 fuls of ground cinnamon, and one of 

 cloves. Tie the spices up loosely in a 

 thin piece of muslin and put them along 

 with the sugar into the vinegar, and 

 heat all together. Add some of the 

 fruit and cook till tender, then remove 

 to a fruit jar ; add more of the fruit, 

 and so continue till all has been cooked 

 and removed to the jar, then turn the 

 boiling vinegar over. After three days 

 turn off the vinegar and boil it for half 

 or three-quarters of an hour, turn again 

 over the fruit, then tie a cloth over the 

 top and set awoy in a dry, cool place. 

 There must always be vinegar enough 

 to fully cover the fruit. 



Cauliflowers and sweet apples also 

 make delicate and wholesome pickles. 



The cauliflower should have the leaves 

 stripped oflf and the heads broken in 

 pieces, steamed till partially tender, and 

 then served as above. Sweet apples, 

 unless a very tender kind and mellow, 

 should also be steamed a few moments 

 before putting into the vinegar. For 

 the latter, a vinegar not quite so sweet 

 is preferable. About one coffee- 3upful 

 of sugar to every quart of vinegar will 

 be found to make a very delicate and 

 toothsome sauce. Green tomatoes make 

 an excellent pickle if properly and care- 

 fully put up, but quite worthless other- 

 wise. They are more difficult to keep 

 than most other fruits, but in country 

 households, where cider vinegar is 

 abundant and cheap, this difficulty is 

 easily obviated. Gather large, well- 

 grown tomatoes that have turned white, 

 but none that are beginning to soften 

 or turn red ; slice through the middle, 

 and put into a weak brine. Let them 

 lie in this over night ; then take out, 

 rinse in cold water, and steam a few 

 moments ; then put into clear, cold 

 vinegar and cook till tender, or till a 

 straw will pierce them easily ; then 

 drain and put into a pickle jar. Throw 

 out the vinegar in which the tomatoes 

 have been cooked ; take enough fresh 

 to cover them ; add sugar and spices 

 about as for peaches and pears, boil and 

 turn hot over the fruit. Pickled in 

 this way tomatoes will keep for any 

 length of time desired. 



Ripe cucumbers make a very good, 

 sweet pickle also. They must be pared, 

 cut in quarters and the inside scraped 

 out, then treated much the same as 

 tomatoes. To make graen cucumber 

 pickles, cut — not break — the cucum- 

 bers from the vines ; wash them care- 

 fully and put into a jar ; pour boiling 

 water over them for three or four days 

 in succession, then put into the jar in 

 which they are to be kept, and pour 

 boiling vinegar over them. Let them 

 stand for a week, then turn off* the old 



