— 174 — 



Pitted plums, soaked an hour or two and then cooked in a heavy 

 sugar syrup, after a slight drying, make a fine confection, retaining the- 

 plum flavor almost perfectly. 



Prunes. 



These are adapted to a greater variety of food dishes than any other 

 of our fruits. Entirely acceptable as a sauce, they make excellent pies 

 and form an agreeable addition to almost all kinds of puddings. They 

 may be used with the pits in or can be easily pitted after cooking. 



1. All the prunes are palatable as a sauce, especially when cooked 

 with a little sugar, which, even with the California prune, improves the 

 dish by enriching the liquid in which they are cooked. 



2. They add very much to any of the batter puddings, and should be 

 placed in the bottom and around the edges of the dish as it is filled with 

 the batter. 



3. Jellied Prunes. — Cook a pound of prunes until quite tender, but 

 not broken. Take about an ounce of gelatine, soak it in a little cold 

 water until soft, pour into this all the liquor from the prunes while hot. 

 This will dissolve the gelatine. Put the prunes into a bowl or cake- 

 form and pour over them the jellied mixture. This when cooled makes 

 an attractive dish. If a little stick cinnamon is cooked with the prunes 

 it gives a fine flavor. 



4. Prune Souffle. — Take a quart of prunes, the Robe de Sergent or the 

 Silver prune preferably, cook, sweetening to taste; remove pits and chop 

 fine. Beat six eggs, yolks and whites separately, and pour over the 

 chopped prunes. Bake fifteen minutes in a quick oven. Serve hot. 



5. Caramel Prune Pudding. — Add to a quart of cooked prunes, while 

 hot, six eggs, whites and yolks beaten together. Line the baking dish 

 with caramel, and pour in the pudding. Bake thoroughly. Serve cold. 



Caramel is made as follows: Into a sauce dish put a small lump of 

 butter; when melted put. in enough dry sugar to cover the bottom of the 

 dish, say one quarter of an inch deep. Let it cook or burn until it is a 

 rich brown color. When cold it can be taken from the dish by striking 

 it smartly, bottom up, on a cutting-board. 



6. Potpourri. — A potpourri of dried fruit, of which prunes are the 

 base, is becoming a favorite dish. A quantity of fruit, varying as the 

 flavor desired varies, cooked as herein given, and served with cream, 

 makes an excellent breakfast or dinner dish. 



PRUNES AS A REMEDIAL DIET. 



A saucer of cooked prunes, without cream, eaten every morning a 

 half hour before breakfast, for a few weeks, will relieve the most severe 

 cases of chronic constipation. The same result will be accomplished, 

 perhaps more agreeably, if the prunes are eaten a half hour before 

 retiring, and they will help to give a good night's rest. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR KEEPING FRUIT. 



Much of our fruit, after it reaches the retail market, is allowed to 

 become too dry and hard. It is so rich in sugar that it will keep well 

 even if it is not bone dry. Some retail dealers complain of the loss in 

 weight as they handle it. Nor is this to be wondered at as it is too 



