i89i 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
6i5 
wash the dishes after dinner and my visitor 
would be none the wiser; then I swept the 
kitchen and cleaned the stove and my 
morning work was apparently “done up,” 
Perhaps it wasn’t just the right way, but 
what was one to do with “ men folk,” the 
care of the children, church festivals (which 
I count as the hardest of all ways of paying 
the minister) and the primmest and most 
proper of company on hand, and a reputa¬ 
tion as a decent housekeeper at stake ? 
I had sponge cake and a custard pie—of 
both of which I knew the old people were 
fond—in the oven, and was busy with the 
vegetables for dinner, when out came old 
Mrs. Clarkson, saying. 
“You needn’t think I’m a-goin’ to be 
packed off in the parlor, while you’re out 
in the kitchen; I’m just a-goin’ to stay in 
heie with you ’n we ken work 'n visit too. 
Why, what a fire you’ve got 1 Bakin’ a’n’t 
ye f You’ll have t’ shet that door er yer 
oven won’t bake wuth a cent. Oh, ye 
needn’t git up, I’ll shet it fer ye and bang 
went the door, making the hot room still 
hotter. Then she pried into the oven. 
“Oh, ye’re bakin’ sponge cakel now ye’ll 
have t’ be keerful an’ not walk across the 
floor till it’s set; cause ef ye do it’ll be 
heavy. While yer huskin’ that green corn 
let me pare yer pertaters fer ye. I ken do 
it jest’s well’s not. Where’ll I find a sharp 
knife ? in the pantry I s’pose”—going to¬ 
ward the pantry door. 
I rose in dismay, scattering a lapful of 
corn husks over the kitchen floor, but I 
couldn’t stop her. She said: “You set 
right still an’ I’ll find one,” and went rum¬ 
maging among that pile of unwashed 
dishes, that I would rather have faced a 
cannon’s mouth than have her see. Then, 
in meek humiliation, I told her about the 
festival and how sleepy and tired I was. 
“Why, la’sakes 1 ” she replied, “I used 
to go to parties au’ set up all night, an’ 
work all the next day jest so nothing’d 
happened. Where’s yer pertaters, down 
cellar ? ” and down those old, rickety, out¬ 
side cellar stairs she went, saying as she 
came back that she guessed I’d have to have 
Jeremiah fix them cellar stairs. As though 
I hadn’t been trying for the p.st six 
months to do that very thing 1 
Next, she must go into the milk room to 
get a pan to put the potatoes in. She came 
back with the assurance that I would have 
to churn after dinner, for there was some 
cream in there that looked as though it 
needed it, adding that when she lived on a 
farm and kept cows she used to churn 
every day. 
When the dinner was at last cooking she 
would help to set the table, and went Into 
the clothes-press for a clean tablecloth. Of 
course she saw all the disorder I had made 
the night before in hurriedly dressing my¬ 
self, fearing I would be late (after getting 
the children in bed so that Jeremiah could 
stay with them) and I dared neither to pro¬ 
test nor to explain nor apologize. 
I had thought that I would have a little 
time to visit with the old people after my 
dinner work was done, leaving the churn¬ 
ing until the cooler evening, when Jeremiah 
would be there to entertain them ; but the 
old lady had changed my plan, and I worked 
the whole afternoon without a moment’s 
rest under the eye of my rigid overseer. 
But they stayed the week out, and dur¬ 
ing that time Mrs. Clarkson found out all 
my ways of housekeeping; of washing, 
making, mending, cooking and cleaning; 
of managing Jeremiah and the children. 
She had visited every room, explored every 
nook and cranny, seen every speck of dirt 
and disorder in my house ; had given her 
advice and her “ opinion ” on them all. 
Thus the long-anticipated reunion, the 
hoped for season of pleasant reminiscences 
and renewing of old acquaintance became 
only a thorn in the flesh and a vexation of 
spirit to GERALDINE GERMANE. 
Readers of The R. N.-Y. will please the 
advertisers and benefit the paper by always 
mentioning it when writing to advertisers. 
When Baby was sick, we gave her Castorla, 
When she was a Child, she cried for Castorla, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castorla, 
When she had Children, she gave them Castorla 
ABOUT CANNING PLUMS. 
CORRESPONDENT writes for re 
clpe8 for canning plums, saying that 
sbe has a heavy surplus of the fruit, and 
no market. We do not know whether she 
is a young housekeeper or not; but we 
know that many such who are not 
within reach of “ mother’s garnered wis¬ 
dom,” are almost wholly dependent upon 
recipes, even in such a simple matter as 
canning fruit. To such we will say that, 
in default of specified recipes for each kind 
of fruit, the “ General Directions for Can¬ 
ning,” on page 4S7 of the number for June 
27, give all the really > ecessary informa¬ 
tion for canning any kind of fruit, and they 
are fully reliable, being from the pen of a 
first-class cook and housewife. A table of 
amounts for sugar cannot be considered so 
absolute as some other things, as tastes 
differ to such an extent. One woman wants 
two cupfuls of sugar to a quart can of 
most fruits ; another would find this nau¬ 
seous, but would use one cupful; still a 
third would use none at all in cooking, 
perhaps adding a little when the fruit is 
served. 
Plums being such a soft fruit when 
canned, come out in far better shape if 
cooked in the cans in hot water, as before 
described. But the skin of the plum is very 
harshly acid, sometimes even bitter, and 
many cooks prefer to “ parboil” the fruit, 
as one would say if it were meat: That 
is, the plums are placed in boiling water 
until the skins crack, liberating some of the 
juice, and this water is thrown away, and 
the fruit cooked in the usual syrup. 
A method superior to this, however, con¬ 
sists in pouring boiling water over well- 
ripened but not too soft plums, until the 
skins loosen, when the latter are removed. 
Some varieties, when fully ripe, may be 
skinned as they come from the trees. If 
the fruit, thus divested of its skin, is cooked 
in the cans, the product will be both de¬ 
licious and satisfactory in appearance. It 
is, however, a long task to remove the 
skins, unless with fruit of the largest size, 
and the proc ss makes one of the easiest 
fruits to can—as far as amount of work is 
concerned—into one of the most trouble¬ 
some. Each must judge for herself, as to 
whether she can really afford the extra 
work. 
Plums for pickles may be steamed until 
just soft enough to keep shape perfectly. 
Four pounds of sugar and one pint of vin¬ 
egar to eight pounds of fruit is a formula 
that suits many tastes, and spices may be 
added in greater or less quantity and vari¬ 
ety. If fond of spices, the cook may use 
half an ounce each of cloves and cinnamon, 
with a little allspice and mace, but such 
strongly spiced fruit can not be regarded 
as wholesome, even in the small degree of 
this quality that is usually accorded to 
pickles. 
Plum marmalade can be made very de¬ 
licious by removing the skins as well as 
the pits, using a pound of sugar to a quart 
of fruit If it is a sour variety. 
RECIPES FOR A PEACH YEAR. 
HIS means both this year and next; 
Marmaduke has expressed a wish to 
the effect that from now until winter, all 
the housewifely preserving strength shall 
go toward the putting up of peaches. For 
a number of years, tnere has been, at least 
in our family, almost a peach famine, which 
culminated last year in a general fruit 
famine. Marmaduke’s wish is law, and 
the array of peaches in the preserve 
closet two months hence is expected to be 
little short of marvelous. 
The day of cooking fruit in cans in a hot- 
water bath, after the fashion described 
several times by different correspondents, 
is upon us. The plan cannot perhaps, be 
improved on for some people, and as a gen¬ 
eral one, for all the fruits. Flavor and 
shape are certainly superior to that ob 
tained by the commoner process of cooking 
in an open kettle; yet some people consider 
the former more trouble, strange to say. 
To such I would recommend the method 
used by an old-fashioned lady, th6 superior 
quality of whose canned fruit was for years 
a matter of neighborhood comment, neigh¬ 
borhood ambition looking no higher than to 
equal it. Peaches, by her method, were 
pared (late at night, or early in the morn¬ 
ing, that the work of canning might not 
encroach on the afternoon hours) sprinkled 
qulckly-lest they darken-with sugar in the 
proportion of one pound of sugar to two 
quarts of fresh fruit, and set away over¬ 
night, or for several hours, in a damp place. 
In this way, the sugar and juice form a 
syrup, to which a little water may be 
added, or not, according to the richness of 
the product desired. The syrup was 
drained off and heated to boiling, in a safe 
preserving kettle; the fruit was added, one 
canful or more at a time, and cooked until 
It would pierce easily, when the cans were 
filled and sealed as usual. 
I notice that in the method of canning by 
immersing the cins in a hot water bath, 
the time of boiling given by different ones 
varies greatly. Yesterday, a friend told me 
of a novel variation on this plan. Sbe fol¬ 
lows it faithfully as usually given, until it 
comes to boiling, when she simply sets the 
filled cans of raw fruit and hot syrup into 
the boiling water, and leaves them until 
the water cools, omitting the boiling alto¬ 
gether. The canned product thus secured 
is almost like fresh fruit, and she says it 
has been a perfect success. I shall try it in 
a small way with peaches; I do not me m 
to go into any new scheme very deeply ; my 
own experience is safest to rest on, for me. 
A method which leaves the juice very 
clear, while as rich as possible, is to first 
boll the peaches until done, in clear water ; 
then fill them lightly into the cans, and 
pour over them a hot, clarified syrup, using 
as much sugar as water will dissolve. 
Peach marmalade is difficult to cook 
without scorching. Some cooks mash the 
raw fruit; this only makes it worse. If 
p aced in a small quantity of rich syrup 
which is hot when the peaches are put in, 
and cooked until jjeady to fall apart, they 
may tbea be mashed, and a short space of 
ooking, with constant stirring will make 
the marmalade ready for the pots. 
One of the grandmothers in Yankeedom 
says (as what grandmother does not think ?) 
that no pickled peaches of the present day 
are equal In flavor to those which she used 
to “ do up.” The recipe she gives is a sim¬ 
ple one, entirely devoid of spices. For 12 
pounds of peaches allow six pounds of light 
brown sugar and one pint of vinegar. Sim¬ 
mer the sugar and vinegar together, skim 
ming until clear, if necessary. Pour boil¬ 
ing water over the peaches, let them stand 
a minute or two, then remove them and 
wipe them dry, being careful not to break 
the skin. Now boll them in the syrup unotl 
they are soft to the stone. She says they 
will keep in tightly closed stone jars in a 
cool place, if inspected occasionally. I 
question the need of inspection, if they are 
safe ; and being the child of the Mason-can 
age, I would seal them in glass cans. Of 
course the grandmothers were dependent 
on jars. A peach pickle which may suit 
some cooks better than the above, is pre¬ 
pared thus : Pour boiling water over well- 
ripened peaches, and let them stand until 
the skins will slip off, sticking two or three 
cloves in each as you remove it from the 
water. Prepare a syrup as in the above 
recipe, adding a small bag of cinnamoD. 
Scald the peaches in the syrup, but do not 
allow them to cook so much as to cleave 
apart, then treat as canned sauce. This 
syrup is very rich, and less sugar may be 
used if one has not a sweet tooth. One 
good housekeeper’s preferred recipe calls 
for but 3X pounds of sugar to a pint of 
vinegar. myra y. norys. 
When writing to advertisers, please 
mention The Rural New-Yorker. 
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What to do with a trouble¬ 
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Have you an 
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gift of it. Then get 
the “Pittsburgh.” 
Drop us a postal card; we’ll 
send you a primer. 
Pittsburgh, Pa. Pittsburgh Brass Co 
FRUIT EVAPORATOR 
“TIIE GRANGER.” For family urp. Cheapest 
In the market. *:< 5 i, *ll 00 and *10. Evaporate all the 
fruit you can, the crop may fall next year. Circular. 
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yeais. This work Is praised by such men as 
John Gould, Colonel Curtis, Professors Shelton 
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has proved the silo to be a very valuable aid on 
his own farm. Price, 25 cents. 
Bee-Keepers’ Guide. -By a. j. 
Cook. 15,000 sold. 460 pages; 222 Illustrations. 
Praised by Bee-Keepers In every land. The 
science and practice of modern bee keeping 
fully explained. Every Bee-Keeper should have 
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