Miss Corson's practical American cookery and household management

Pick over a quart of green gooseberries, remove the tops and stems, then throw them into fast-boiling water, and let them remain two minutes ; then drain them, and let them stand for two minutes in sufficient cold water to entirely cover them, and then drain them again. When the gooseberries are first put over the fire, put a pound of sugar into a preserving-kettle with half a cupful of cold water, and let it boil ; remove all scum as it rises, and when the sirup is clear, put in the gooseberries, and stew them until they are tender, but do not cook them until they break ; when they are tender, skim them out of the sirup, and put them in a glass or china dish. Boil the sirup until a little of it cooled on a saucer jellies slightly, then pour it over the gooseberries. Serve them cold. FRIED BANANAS. Strip the skin from four bananas, and cut them in half; inch slices. The yellowish kind, called plantains, not quite ripe, are the best for this dish. Have ready over the fire a frying-pan containing about half an inch of fat, smoking hot ; put the bananas into the hot fat, brown them quickly, dust them with salt and pepper, and serve them hot. If fried bananas are required for dessert, sugar should be substituted for salt and pepper. FRIED PEACHES. Cut in halves a dozen firm, ripe freestone peaches ; have ready over the fire a dripping-pan containing smoking-hot fat half an inch deep ; lay the peaches in the pan, the cut side down, as fast as they are cut, and fry them light-brown ; as soon as the side next the pan is done, turn them over, without breaking them, and heat the other side. The moment they are heated through, arrange them on a hot platter, with the cut side up, put a little powdered sugar in each, and serve them hot for dessert. PEACHES STEWED IN WINE. Put into a porcelain-lined preserving-kettle one pint of sherry or madeira, one pint of cold water, and two pounds of cut loaf-sugar ; place the kettle over the fire, let the sirup boil slowly, and skim it until it is quite free from scum; meantime peel firm freestone peaches, cut them in halves, and drop them into cold water to preserve their color ; when the sirup is clear, put in as many peaches as will boil without" crowding; cook them gently until they begin to look clear; then take them up with a skimmer, and put them into glass dishes or jars without breaking them ; continue to cook the peaches in this way until there is only about a pint and a half of the sirup ; boil this down to a pint, and pour it hot over the peaches. They may be used as soon as they are cold, or put up in air-tight jars for future use. pnsrEAFPi,ES