THE PRACTICAL HOUSEWIFE 
AND 
HER HOME GARDEN 
RUTH GIPSON PLOWHEAD 
Canning Fruits and Vegetables by the “Fancy Pack’’ Method for Pretty Effect and 
Appetizing Flavor—Prize Winning Jellies and Jams for Holiday Gifts and the Home Table 
Editors’ Note: The garden is, of course, not merely an outdoor plaything hut an integral part of the household’s life, contributing not only diversion but 
often a very substantial share of the day’s menu. The most carefully raised vegetables, the most delicious of fruits, the loveliest of flowers may come to 
naught through careless or ignorant handling by those indoors, thus nullifying the gardener’s best efforts and completely discouraging their renewal. 
Intelligent housewifery is the garden’s best ally; therefore we take pleasure in announcing the establishment of a new department—The Housewife and Her 
Home Garden—which will include each month matters of specific interest to the "lady of the house”—recipes, articles on flower arrangement, table decoration, 
food values in relation to family health, and all the diversified activities and interests of a competently run menage in whose success the garden is an import¬ 
ant, if silent partner. 
fpid^HOUGI I we read many articles upon canning, we seldom 
f find one which gives us directions for producing the 
imjm&g “fancy pack’’—the nearly perfect jar of fruit, faultless 
in color, form and taste, which looks almost too good 
to eat and tastes as good as it looks. Even when not canning 
for exhibition, there is a great satisfaction in putting up a few 
fine jars for special occasions and so here are some hints which 
have helped me turn out many prize-winning jars of fruits 
and vegetables. 
First as to jars: The most important thing is to have a clear 
colorless glass without flaws, for the clearer the glass the more 
transparent the syrup will look. It seems to me that a decided 
greenish or bluish tint to the jar makes the fruit look rather 
cloudy. The shape and kind of jar does not matter so much 
though a wide-mouthed jar permits of easier arrangement of 
the fruit, and is almost indispensable in canning the larger 
products. Polish your jars inside and out with polishing 
powder until they glisten and sparkle. 
The quality of the syrup depends upon the tastes of the 
family and the product canned, but for most fruits I make a 
syrup in the proportion of one cup of sugar to one and one-half 
cups of water and boil five minutes. 
All fruits and vegetables should be stored in a dark place 
as soon as cool to prevent bleaching and loss of color. 
It is the trifles in fancy canning which make for perfection 
and while these details mean much work the results well justify 
the time spent. 
FANCY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 
Strawberries: These are quite difficult to can nicely as they often 
lose their color and rise to the top of the jar. Choose a dark red, firm 
berry, red clear through to the center. Over each quart of berries used, 
sprinkle one cup of sugar and let stand in a cool place for several hours. 
Put on the stove in a granite kettle, bring slowly to a boil, and let cool. 
Then dip out the berries, place carefully in the jar, filling very full; over 
these pour the syrup, which has been heated, place in the sterilizer 
and boil seven minutes. It will take several quarts of berries to make 
one quart of canned fruit but you will have a red shapely berry, which 
does not rise to the top. 
Raspberries: Should be canned as soon as possible after being 
picked, as should, for that matter, all soft fruits. Over-ripe berries 
must never be used. By placing the jar on its side and sloping it a 
little the raspberries may be arranged in symmetrical rows; small 
forks are a help in keeping the berries in place. By gradually shifting 
the jar and filling in the center space one can get a beautiful fancy pack 
and the berries will keep in position almost perfectly. Of course, use 
only the firmest and largest fruit for the outside rows and pack the 
inner layer very full. If you are fortunate enough to have access to a 
berry patch, choose your fruit and can at once; otherwise take the 
choicest fruit from a crate and use the rest for jumble pack or jam. 
Apples and Pears: Use the variety which in your locality is the 
whitest meated and the most fine grained. Do not have the fruit ripe 
enough to be really soft. As the fruits are peeled and halved drop into 
a pail of cold water containing a teaspoonful of salt to each quart of 
water. This helps to keep them white. Exposure to the air, even for 
a short time, also causes discoloration, so work quickly while packing 
the jars. The prettiest pears we ever canned were cut in eights 
lengthwise and fitted along the sides of the jars. It is often easier to 
get a nice pack this way than by canning in halves. 
Apples may be arranged this way or cut in rings like canned pine¬ 
apple making the hole in the center with the apple-corer. Slices of 
lemon or orange placed along the sides of the jar gives an attractive 
touch. Boiling too long will cause either of these fruits to turn dark, 
so boil the shortest length of time prescribed for your altitude— 
probably fifteen or twenty minutes. 
Peaches: Choose those which are quite firm as any soft or bruised 
spot might show up in the canning. These are blanched one minute 
in boiling water, cold dipped in salt water, and then sliced very thinly 
or canned in halves. Several blanched peach pits added to each jar 
improves appearance and flavor. 
Apricots: These may be peeled or not according to taste. Peeled 
apricots cut into halves make an attractive effect or one may use the 
small apricots unpeeled, and cut them into very thin slices. Where 
one is exhibiting a collection it makes more variety to have the fruits 
as different as possible. 
Soup Mixture: A most effective soup mixture is made by filling 
the jar with layers of chopped or ground vegetables, packed so that 
the colors harmonize. Each layer may be from one-half to one or 
more inches deep, according to the size of the jar. A good combination 
starting from the bottom layer up is: white corn, ground carrots, green 
string beans, ground onions, a layer of tiny red cherry tomatoes, or 
ripe tomatoes cut in small pieces, chopped celery, new peas, and white 
string beans. Of course, all these must be blanched and cold dipped 
and cooked as long as the vegetable requiring the most cooking. This 
is canned with salt water for the liquid and is to be added to the meat 
broth at the time of use. 
Tomatoes: This is a showy vegetable when well canned. I have 
seen tomatoes cut in thick slices and canned so as to keep their shape 
perfectly, but a small tomato of the salad variety used whole is, as 
a rule, more effective. Choose deep red tomatoes and those of uni¬ 
form size. Blanch only long enough to loosen the skin, be sure that 
the fruit is not too soft, and handle carefully if you want a clear trans¬ 
parent jar. I f the tomatoes are too ripe or are handled too much, there 
is apt to be a layer of sediment in the bottom of the can. 
Other Vegetables : Long slender yellow string beans canned whole 
look well in an exhibit; cauliflower divided into even little headlets; 
one single ear of corn packed in a jar; and carrots, either canned whole 
