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ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEOEPEBS' ASSOCIATION 



105 



cold water nearly to the shoulders of 

 the jars. Screw the tops on rather 

 loosely, put the cover on the boiler, 

 and bring to a boil. The steam helps 

 to cook the fruit or vegetable, and the 

 tops of the cans being on, the drops 

 that form on the inside of the cover 

 can not get into the jars. If the lid 

 does not fit, lay under it a thick cloth 

 to prevent the steam from escaping. 

 When nearly done, tighten the tops on 

 the cans. 



These general directions fit both 

 fruits and vegetables, but the latter 

 are, as a rule, more difficult to keep 

 than fruit, and require much longer 

 cooking. Berries, cherries, and plums 

 should cook about 15 minutes from 

 the time the water begins to boil 

 around them; peaches and pears from 

 20 to 30 minutes. 



Currant preserves, which are be- 

 lieved to be the finest of their kind, 

 as follows: 



Take out the seeds witii a needle or 

 tiny embroidery scissors; take the 

 weight of the currants in honey, and 

 when this has been heated, add the 

 currants. Let it simmer a minute or 

 two and then s«al, as for jelly. The 

 currants retain their shape, are of a 

 beautiful color, and melt in the mouth. 

 Care must be taken not to scorch the 

 honey. 



Cherries — Take 6 quarts of fruit, 

 one and a half quarts of honey. Meas- 

 ure the cherries after the stones have 

 been removed. Pit them or not, as you 

 please. If you stone them, be careful 

 to save all the juice. Put the honey 

 in the preserving kettle over the fire 

 until it simmers. Put in the cherries 

 and heat slowly to the boiling point. 

 Boil 10 minutes. Skim carefully. 



Strawberries — Take equal parts of 

 honey and berries. Simmer the honey 

 so as to have the syrup thicken almost 

 like jelly before adding the berries. 

 Boil from one to two minutes. 



Raspberry Preserves — Twelve quarts 

 of raspberries require two quarts of 

 honey. Put two quarts of fruit in the 

 preserving kettle and heat slowly on 

 the stove. Crush the berries with a 

 wooden vegetable masher and spread a 

 square of cheesecloth over a bowl and 

 turn the crushed berries and juice into 

 it. Press out the juice and turn it 

 into the preserving kettle. Add two 

 quarts of honey and put on the stove. 

 Wihen the syrup begins to boil, add 

 the remaining 10 quarts of berries. 



Let them heat slowly. Boil 10 minutes, 

 counting from the time they begin to 

 bubble. Skim well. 



Pears, peaches, and plums take equal 

 weight of honey and fruit. Plums 

 should boil about 15 minutes. Pears 

 and peaches from 20 to 30 minutes. 



Blackberries, huckleberries, and rasp- 

 berries — Take 4 quarts of fruit and one 

 quart of honey, boil 15 minutes, then 

 put in jars. 



Rhubarb — ^Do not peel it or it will 

 look green. The color is a nice pink, 

 if not peeled. Two quarts of rhubarb, 

 2 quarts of honey, boiled to thick 

 sso-uip, then sealed. 



Corn — Two quarts of corn cut ofC the 

 ear, one pint water, one -half pint of 

 honey, 4 even tablespoonfuls of salt. 

 Boil 30 minutes, put in cans, and seal- 

 Corn and Tomatoes — Three quarts of 

 corn, 3 quarts of tomatoes, one pint of 

 honey, one-half pint of water, 6 table- 

 spoonfuls of salt. Boil one-half hour. 



Apples and Quinces — Equal weight 

 of fruit and honey. Boil 10 minutes. 



Fruit juices, grapes, cherries, rasp- 

 berries, strawberries, peaches — Simmer 

 the fruit, then strain through a cheese- 

 cloth, take one quart of fruit juice and 

 one-half pint of honey, boil from 10 

 to 15 minutes. 



Manheim, Pa. 



President York — We might hear 

 from the ladies on the use of honey in 

 canning and preserving fruits. We will 

 be glad to hear from any of them as 

 to what their experience has been. 



Miss Wilson — ^We make a good many 

 honey- cookiesi at our house, and like 

 them very much. We canned a few 

 cans of fruit, strawberries and rasp- 

 berries, with honey, and they were 

 good. 



President York — Good enough to eat, 

 were they? 



Miss Wilson — ^We thought so. 



Mr. Baxter — I will say that jelly and 

 jam made with honey is free from the 

 tartaric acid. Tou know grape jelly 

 or preserves, after they get to a cer- 

 tain age, are full of tartaric acid, and 

 if it is made with honey instead of 

 sugar, it will avoid that. That has 

 been the experience of my wife, and 

 I know she used honey in preserves, 

 too. It makes nice preserves. She 

 uses it very generally in cooking. 



Dr. Miller — Does Mr. Baxter mean 

 in the grape preserves, there were 

 none of these crystals at all? 





