298 



CURING AND STORING. 



PRESERVE, Fruits without Sugar or 

 Vinegar. — Pick the fruit from the stalks ; 

 put them into the bottles. Put one 

 drachm of alum into four gallons of boil- 

 ing water ; let it stand till it is cold ; then 

 fill the bottles with this liquor, bung them 

 tight, put them into a copper of cold 

 water, and heat to 176 °; and then tie 

 them over with bladder and seal them. 



FRUITS, Preserved, by Syrup without 

 Heat. — Many fruits when preserved by 

 boiling lose much of their peculiar and 

 delicate flavor, as for instance pineapples; 

 and this inconvenience may, in some 

 instances, be remedied by preserving them 

 without heat. Cut the fruit in slices, 

 about one-fifth of an inch thick; strew 

 powdered loaf-sugar an eighth of an inch 

 thick in the bottom of a jar, and put the 

 slices on it. Put more sugar on this, and 

 then another layer of the slices, and so 

 on, till the jar is full. Place the jar with 

 the fruit up to the neck in boiling water, 

 and . lr ^ep it there till the sugar is com- 

 pletely dissolved, which may take half an 

 hour, removing the scum as it rises. 

 Lastly, tie a wet bladder over the mouth 

 of the jar, or cork and wax it. 



APPLES, Preserved. — Pare and core 

 and cut them in halves or quarters ; take 

 as many pounds of the best brown sugar; 

 put a tea-cup of water to each pound. 

 When it is dissolved set it over the fire; 

 and when boiling hot put in the fruit and 

 let it boil gently until it is clear and the 

 syrup thick ; take the fruit with a skim- 

 mer on to flat dishes ; spread it to cool ; 

 then put it in pots or jars and pour the 

 jelly over. Lemons boiled tender in 

 water and sliced thin may be boiled with 

 the apples. 



APPLES, Crab, Preserved. — Take 

 off the stem and core them with a sharp 

 knife without cutting them open ; weigh 

 a pound of white sugar for each pound 

 of apples ; put a tea-cup of water to each 

 pound of sugar, and then put it over a 

 slow fire. When the sugar is dissolved 

 and hot, put the apples in; let them boil 

 gently until they are clear, then skim 

 them, cut and spread them on flat dishes. 

 Boil the syrup until it is thick; put the 

 syrup in whatever they are to be kept, 

 and when the syrup is cold and settled, 

 pour it carefully over the fruit. Slices of 

 lemon boiled with the fruit is to some an 

 improvement ; one lemon is sufficient for 



several pounds of fruit. Crab apples may 

 be preserved whole with three-quarters of 

 an inch of stem on ; three-quarters of a 

 pound of sugar for each pound of fruit. 



APRICOTS, Preserved, Whole.— Take 

 the largest and cleanest apricots to be 

 got; pick out the stones with a silver 

 skewer, or slit them down the sides with 

 a silver knife; take nearly their weight in 

 good lump sugar; dip each lump in 

 water and put over the fire; let it just 

 boil; skim, and put by till cold; then 

 pour it over the fruit in the preserving- 

 pan, warm very gently and only allow 

 them to simmer; then put them by till 

 next day, and warm them again, continu- 

 ing this till they look clear; then take 

 the fruit from the syrup. The latter must 

 now be well boiled and skimmed, and 

 when cold poured over the fruit. 



CITRON MELON, Preserved.— Pare, 

 core and cut into slices some fine citron 

 melons. Weigh them. To six pounds 

 of melon allow six pounds of refined 

 sugar, the juice and grated rind of four 

 large lemons, and a quarter pound of 

 root ginger. Boil the slices of melon 

 half an hour or more, till they look quite 

 clear and are so tender that a broom 

 straw will pierce them. Then drain 

 them, lay them in a pan of cold water,, 

 cover them, and let them stand all night. 

 In the morning tie the root ginger in a 

 thin muslin cloth, and boil it in three 

 pints of clear water till the water is high- 

 ly flavored; take out the bag of ginger 

 and pour the water over the pieces of su- 

 gar, which is previously broken and put 

 in a preserving kettle. When the sugar 

 is melted, set it over the fire, put in the 

 grated peel of the lemons and boil and 

 skim it till no more scum rises. Then 

 put in the sliced citrons and the juice of 

 the lemons ; boil them in the syrup till all 

 the slices are quite transparent, and so 

 soft that a straw will go through thenv 

 but do not break them. When done put 

 .the slices, still warm, into jars, and gently 

 pour over the syrup. This will be found 

 delicious. 



CUCUMBERS, Preserved, To Imitate 

 Ginger. — Take small cucumbers, with the 

 flowers and stalks on them, and some 

 large ones gathered dry; put them in a 

 stone jar with salt and water enough to 

 cover them ; then put cabbage leaves on 

 the top to cover them close, and set them 



