The complete cook book

The chief art in making jelly is to boil it continuously, slowly and gently. It will not harden well if the boiling stops, even for a few moments. To preserve the true color and flavor of fruit in jellies or jams, boil well before adding the sugar; in this way the water contained in all fruit juices is evaporated. Heat the sugar before adding it. In making grape jelly, pick the grapes from their stems, wash them, and put them over the fire in a vessel containing a little water, to keep them from burning. Stew a few moments; mash gently with a silver spoon, strain, and to every pint of juice allow one pound of white sugar. After the juice comes to the boiling point, boil twenty minutes. JAMS. Jams are made with whole small fruits, or large fruit cut fine, and cooked in an equal weight of sugar. The Complete Cook Book. 283 GEAPE JAM. Wash the grapes, and squeeze or pinch the pulp from the skins. Boil the pulp until it separates from the seeds, and run it through a sieve. Then add the skins to the pulp, and boil with an equal weight of sugar fifteen minutes. Put into small jars or tumblers, and cover with paper. CURRANT, RASPBERRY OR BLACKBERRY JAM. Pick over and mash the fruit; allow one pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Put the fruit and one quarter of the sugar into a granite or porcelain kettle; when boiling, add another quarter of the sugar; boil again, add more sugar and when all is used, let it boil till it hardens on the spoon in the air. Apples, pears, peaches, and quinces should be pared, cut small, and treated in the same way. Cooking in only a little sugar at a time prevents the fruit from becoming hard. STRAWBERRY JAM. Cap and wash the berries, and put them on to stew with a very small quantity of water. Stir constantly. When thoroughly done and mashed to a soft pulp, add one pound sugar to each pound fruit. The advantage of adding sugar last is that it preserves the color and flavor of the fruit. Stew till sufficiently thick, scraping constantly from the bottom with a batter-cake turner. RASPBERRY JAM. Wash and pick the berries, boil with a little water, mashing and scraping from the bottom as they simmer. When reduced to a thick pulp, add one-half pound sugar to each pound berries. Stew till very thick, scraping constantly from the bottom. Cool in a large bowl, then put in a glass jar with screw top. Blackberry, dewberry, and whortleberry jam may be made by the same recipe. 284 The Complete Cook Book. APPLE BUTTER. Take nine gallons of cider, boil down one-third ; add to the boiling cider three gallons of apples that have been pared and quartered ; boil rapidly for two hours, so as to prevent them from sinking; when they commence to sink, stir so as to prevent them from burning; add sugar and spice to suit the taste, stir constantly until the mass is reduced to a thick, smooth pulp — this generally takes from thirty to forty minutes. Place in crocks and tie cotton batting over the mouth of crock. TOMATO BUTTER. One bushel ripe tomatoes, one-half bushel of ripe apples, five pounds of brown sugar, one ounce cinnamon, one ounce allspice, one ounce cloves ; first allow tomatoes to come to a boil, then add the apples peeled and cored ; let cook together, watching very carefully for about three-fourths of a day, then add the sugar and allow to boil until juice is cooked out of them ; one hour before taking off add the spices. ORANGE MARMALADE— DELICIOUS. Quarter the oranges and take out the seeds and white strings. To every pound of pulp add a cup of cold water, and let it stand thus for twenty-four hours. Boil some of the peel in several waters until quite tender; then to each pound of pulp, add one-quarter of a pound of boiled peel, and one and a quarter pounds of white sugar. Boil this slowly until it jellies, and the bits of peel are quite transparent. HOW TO MAKE TUITA FRUITA, OR THE