Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Gooseberries may be preserved in water. Pick over the fruit, reject the poor ones, and remove head and tail. Put the fruit into jars, filling them nearly to the top. Pour in clear, cold water, allowing it to overflow the jar. Screw the covers down, and keep the jars in a dark, cool place. Gooseberry Jam. — Six pounds of ripe gooseberries, 4 lbs. of sugar. Stem and top the gooseberries, and boil one hour in a preserving-kettle, watching closely that the fruit does not scorch. Stir often. If the juice increases very rapidly, dip out some of it. When the fruit has boiled an hour add the sugar, and cook an hour longer. Put the jam boiling hot into glass tumblers or small jars, and seal. Grape Jelly, Ripe. — Proceed with this as with green-grape jelly, but use only I lb. of sugar to a pint of juice. Wild or tart grapes are best for this purpose, and jelly made from catawba grapes is especially pleasing both to eye and palate. Grape Marmalade. — Cook the grapes as for jelly or catsup, and when very tender rub through a sieve, rejecting the seeds. Measure the pulp, and to every pint allow ½ lb. of sugar. Fruit Jams Grapes, Preserved PRESERVES, ETC. Put both over the fire and boil for half an hour, stirring constantly. Put up in small jars or glasses. Grapes, Preserved (partly ripe). — Pick out those that are knotty or wormy, take the rest, a few at a time, in a coarse sieve, working them around with the hand until the seeds are loosened, when they will drop through, leaving the skins and pulp in the sieve. Drain the juice off the seeds, and to every pound of pulp, skins, and juice allow ½ lb. of white sugar. Put all into the preserving- kettle, and cook slowly about three-quarters of an hour. Put hot into jars, a brandypaper on top, and seal up. Grape Syrup. — Pick ripe grapes of strong flavor from the stems; mash, and press the juice out. Measure, and put in a porcelain kettle, with 1½ lbs. sugar to every pint of juice ; stir over the fire until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup made. Care must be taken not to cook the liquid too long, or it will jelly. When thick and clear take from the fire, let cool, and bottle. Green-grape Jelly. — For this purpose the ordinary wild or fox grapes are excellent. The only drawback connected with making green-grape jelly is the quantity of sugar that is demanded to render it eatable. If the grapes are gathered in midsummer, before they have begun to turn, the jelly will be a clear green; but later, when the first bloom makes its appearance, a beautiful pink jelly may be obtained from this fruit. The grapes should be stripped from their stems, and put in a wide-mouthed stone jar set in an outer vessel of boiling water. After the grapes begin to soften, they should be stirred from time to time with a wooden paddle or spoon. When they are thoroughly crushed and broken— a process that may require three or four hours — they may be turned, a small quantity at a time, into a jellybag. To have the juice perfectly clear, they should be allowed to drip, but the bag should not be squeezed.