Atlanta women's club cook book

Select sound uniform PLUMS, prick with needle to prevent bursting. Pack as firmly as possible without crushing, in No. 4 syrup and process quarts for 15 minutes. Use GRAPES sound but not dead ripe. Weigh and pulp. Heat pulp over a slow fire until soft, then run through a colander to get rid of seeds. Add 1 cup water to each quart hulls and cook slowly until tender. Combine hulls and pulps and add 1 pound sugar for each 6 pounds fresh fruit. Boil 5 minutes. Put into sterilized jars and process pint jars at simmering 30 minutes. It is of the greatest importance that ASPARAGUS for canning be fresh and tender. Select tips of uniform size and maturity, and wash them. Cut in right length for cans ; scrape off tough outer skin and tie in bundles. Blanch by immersing the lower ends part way in boiling water for two minutes. Then immerse the entire tips for one to two minutes longer. Plunge into cold wa' er, then pack neatly having the tips up. Fill jars with brine (4 oz. salt to 1 gal. water) and process intermittently, one hour daily for three days. The Refugee is a good variety. STRING BEANS should be tender and fresh. When the beans within the pod have grown to any size canning is more difficult and the product of poorer quality from a commercial standpoint. For canning only well sorted, small, tender beans should be used. String the beans and cut them into two-inch lengths, cutting diagonally or "on the bias" giving a pretty product. In glass they may be canned whole, packed log cabin fashion in square jars. Blanch three to eight minutes and plunge into cold water for an instant. Drain well and pack quickly, cover with brine (2-1/2 oz. salt to 1 gal, water), process intermittently, or if very young, tender beans are used, process for two consecutive hours. Lima, or Butter Beans, are treated as string beans, blanching 2 to 5 minutes. Always process intermittently. Add sugar and salt mixture as for corn. The best variety of BEET for canning is the Detroit. From a standpoint of quality, only young tender beets should be canned. Sort, putting uniform sizes together. Boil until three-fourths done, peel, pack in layers of three or four, fitting the second layer into the spaces left by the first layer and repeat. Cover with clear hot water. Process quart jars 1 to 2 hours. Do not allow cold water to touch the beets after they have been cooked. CARROTS — Proceed the same as for beets, processing one hour. Only the Spanish varieties of SWEET PEPPER, known as pimentos are suitable for canning. The fruit of these peppers has very thick meat, tough skin and is comparatively smooth and free from ridges. Peppers should be ripe, sound and free from bruises. Prepare for peeling by placing peppers in a hot oven for 6 to 8 minutes. Peel, cut out stem, remove seeds and pack dry in flattened layers. No water is used in the preparation of these peppers; the processing brings out a thick liquor which almost covers them in the can. In glass a good package is a 10 ounce tumbler-shaped jar with hermetic cap. Process this jar 25 minutes and pint jars 30 minutes. SOUP MIXTURE.