Auaumi 
Bringing the Berry Patch to the Table 
An A. A. Wednesday Evening Radio Talk Broadcast From WEAF 
S TRAWBERRIES, raspberries, blackberries, blue¬ 
berries—they, none of them ever [taste quite so 
good on the table as when you brave brambles, 
scratches and stained fingers to eat them from 
the bushes where they grow. But that is a pleasure 
which few of us can enjoy, so we must bring the berry- 
patch to the table instead of feasting from the tangled 
bushes along an overgrown back road or off in the 
corner of the meadow lot. 
In order to keep that 
fresh, fruity tang which 
makes the berry in the 
patch so delicious and 
which it so quickly loses, 
any sort of berry should 
be eaten just as soon after 
picking as possible. That 
means that city folk, no 
matter how choice the 
boxes they buy in the 
market, never get quite 
the same flavor as their 
lucky country cousins 
whose berry supply lies 
near the kitchen door. 
Yet the enormous ship¬ 
ments to the city of all 
sorts of summer berries, 
sold at prices which would 
open the eyes of those 
who have them free for 
the picking, prove that 
city-dwellers want to get 
as much of the berry- 
patch as possible on their 
tables. 
If I were to ask every 
one of my hearers “what 
is the ideal way to serve 
berries?” I am sure I 
would hear a unanimous 
shout, “In a big bowl 
with sugar and cream.” 
And everybody would be 
marked “correct,” for 
surely that is the perfect way to have them. But even 
in such a simple way there are little points to be ob¬ 
served which make the dish more appetizing. Whether 
you buy your berries by the box or whether Sonny 
brings home a pailful, always sort them over as soon 
as they are in the house. Any spoiled or under-ripe 
ones should be discarded; the good berries should be 
put in a cool place to await their final preparation. 
Hull strawberries thoroughly—here is a hint to save 
the housewife’s fingertips. Use one of the little tin 
candy tongs that come in fancy boxes—a pair in the 
kitchen is mighty handy to nip off the strawberry hulls 
or cut out bruised spots when the rest of the berry is 
worth saving. 
Always wash berries carefully and go over them 
several times if necessary, for even one gritty mouthful 
sets the teeth on edge for the rest of the dish. In 
washing, however, use a sieve or colander, handling 
the berries as little as possible. Drain all the water off, 
for it makes the berries soggy to leave them too wet. 
When you serve, use a generous dish and a generous 
amount of cream. Do not overdo the sugar, as the 
flavor of the berries is too good to need disguising. In 
the case of berries inclined to be sour, such as very 
early strawberries or blackberries, unless they are dead- 
ripe, a little sugar scattered over them and allowed to 
absorb into the berries for some time sweetens them 
more and preserves the flavor far better than spoonfuls 
recklessly dumped on them when they come to the 
table. 
These general rules hold good for any berry to be 
eaten raw—strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, 
loganberries or raspberries. Anyone who has never 
made a supper of rich, ripe berries in a deep bowl of 
milk or cream, with crackers or biscuits to crumble 
into or eat with them, doesn’t know what a really good 
meal can be. 
However, there are other berries which lend them¬ 
selves better to cooking than to eating raw, and I am 
not Agoing to forget them—the elderberry, dewberry, 
and gooseberry, for instance. But all the cream-and- 
sugar type of berries are good stewed, preserved, 
jellied or as flavoring, too, so you can not only bring 
the berry patch to the table, but you can put it up in 
permanent form and have it all the year round. 
Consider the Strawberry 
Just now strawberries are forecasting summer, so 
let’s see what can be done with them besides serving 
them “as is.” Well, there’s strawberry jam, luscious 
and red; strawberry shrub for the hot days next 
Never so good as when you can eat them from the bushes 
where they grow. 
By GABRIELLE ELLIOT 
Household Editor, American Agriculturist 
August, rich preserves, strawberry jelly, candy, cake 
icing and best of all, next to fresh raw berries, straw¬ 
berry ice cream. Before we take down all these 
recipes, however, here’s a simple way of using whole 
strawberries in semi-candy form. It’s called “crystal¬ 
lized strawberries” and 
you must pick out espe¬ 
cially fine ones to prepare 
in this way, as it makes a 
pretty as well as edible 
dishful. Beat the whites 
of three eggs to a stiff 
froth; lay the fruit in the 
beaten egg and drain. 
Then beat again the part 
that drips off. Dip the 
berries one by one in 
finely powdered sugar and 
lay on a paper in a pan 
and place in a cool oven. 
When the icing is firm, 
pile on a plate and put in 
a cool place until served. 
Now we come to meth¬ 
ods of putting up fruit 
and there are a few points 
which hold good for all 
sorts of food, including 
berries. 
Successful canning de¬ 
pends on two things: the 
complete destruction by 
heat of all microscopic 
life that will cause spoil¬ 
age; and subsequent care 
to prevent further en¬ 
trance of micro-organisms. 
The presence of air in a 
jar will not of itself cause 
food to spoil, provided 
that fruit, can, rubber and 
cover are sterile, if the 
air space itself is sterile and if micro-organisms can not 
enter. The precaution of running a knife or spoon 
down the sides of a can to remove the few bubbles that 
may be there is consequently unnecessary. Unless the 
knife has been boiled, its use may even endanger the 
keeping qualities of a sterile can by introducing live 
organisms. 
any housewife can use them. Here is the proportion of 
ingredients to use for both strawberries and raspberries: 
Fill hot jars with berries, shaking the jars in order to 
obtain a full pack. Make a heavy sirup of two parts 
of sugar to one part of water, boiled until it spins in a 
thread. Allow about one-half cup of sirup to each 
quart jar of berries. Pour the boiling sirup over the 
berries until the jars are full. Place a rubber and a 
cover on each jar and seal the jars. Place them in a 
receptacle containing 'sufficient boiling water to cover 
the jars completely, and cover it tightly. Allow the 
jars to remain in the water until it has become cold; 
then remove them, wipe, label, and store them in a 
cool, dark place. If strawberries are canned or pre¬ 
served in a sirup made with cranberry juice instead of 
water, they retain much of their natural flavor and the 
product has the color of fresh strawberries. 
Elderberries Are Good Canned 
To can elderberries, wash, remove from stem, and 
pack them into clean jars. Add no sugar or water. 
Adjust the rubber and cover, and boil the jars in a hot 
water bath for 15 or 20 minutes. These berries have 
sufficient juice for pies, and they keep their shape 
perfectly. Three tablespoons of sugar may be added 
to each pint jar when the jar is half filled with berries. 
The jar is then completely filled with berries, the rubber 
and cover adjusted, and the jar boiled in the hot water 
bath for 10 minutes. 
Spiced Blueberries or Elderberries 
Five pounds blueberries, 3 pounds sugar, 1 pint 
diluted vinegar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon 
cloves, 1 tablespoon allspice. Tie the spices in a 
cloth. Boil the sugar, the spices, and the vinegar for 
10 minutes. Add the berries which have been washed 
and well drained, and simmer them until they.are done. 
Seal them in hot, clean jars. If cooked too long the 
berries will have a shriveled appearance. 
Canning blueberries for pies and sauces is also very 
practicable. For pies, cook the berries in a small 
amount of water, about one-half cup of water to one 
quart of berries until they are soft, stirring them often 
to prevent sticking. This requires only a few minutes. 
Seal them at once in hot, clean jars. This is the usual 
method of canning the berries for pies and puddings, 
but the color and flavor are better if they are canned 
with sugar, even if so small an amount as one-sixth of 
the measure of berries is used. 
For sauce, use one-fourth to one-third as much sugar 
as berries, by measure. Mix the sugar well through 
the berries, being careful not to crush them. Let them 
stand overnight. In the morning add water, allowing 
yi, cup to 1 quart of fruit. Heat the fruit quickly and 
cook it until it is tender. 
Choose Your Jars Carefully 
There are many kinds of jars on the market. The 
vear ^Old rubber loses ~ pensive means of variety 
L elasticity, and may Gooseberry tarts and sauce we« considered a luxury by in the daily meals, in both 
cause imperfect sealing our gr dmothe s. and cold weather, 
and thus endanger the keeping of the food. A good Fruit drinks, jellied desserts, pudding sauces, ice creams, 
rubber is elastic, not brittle, and will not break easily and ices are easily made from bottled fruit juices, 
when stretched. For a cool summer drink, nothing is more refreshing 
There is not time to go into the details of the pro- than strawberry shrub, which holds true for raspberries, 
cesses involved, but government and college of agri- Select sound fruit, wash, measure, and place w 
culture bulletins explain the methods so clearly that {Continued on page 501) 
