The home cook book

When one turns to the cooking of apples, first of all we think of wholesome apple sauce and delicious baked apples. For tried and true receipts for such wholesome fare, see the following pages and apple receipts among "Puddings." This is but a glance at the manifold uses of our most useful of fruits. APPLES AS SALAD Besides making most appetizing desserts, apples serve to help out the daily menu in many ways. Cut in cubes mixed with shredded celery and a few walnut meats and smothered with a boiled dressing, sour apples form the base of the excellent Waldorf salad. [See "Salads," page 161.J APPLE FRITTERS Sliced, dipped in a batter, fried in deep fat, and served with a sweet sauce, they are delicious as fritters. APPLE SAUCE Of necessity, apple sauce does not always await the entrance of roast pork. It is good all winter long, for breakfast, luncheon, or supper, and it proves a most welcome variation to the housewife who sees her canned fruit supply running low. Apples for any cooking purpose should always be pared with a silver knife ; steel will spoil their color. For apple sauce, cook them in a tightly covered granite or white-lined saucepan. Take it from the fire as soon as the fruit is tender, sweeten, and serve warm. Do not sweeten if the sauce is to be served with pork. If you would have the finest possible flavor, put the apples with a very little water and sugar in a clean bean pot, set it in a hot oven, and bake. The sauce will have a rich red color and a most excellent taste. CIDER APPLE SAUCE Sometimes toward the approach of spring apples grow flavorless. Add to them — in any way they are cooked — a dash of lemon or orange juice, half a cup of grated pineapple or a few spoons of quince preserve. The addition of raisins, halved dates, or a little finely chopped orange peel often transforms plain apple sauce into a very attractive dish for the children's table. We must not forget the spicy, old-fashioned cider apple sauce, which is a good standby all winter long. Simmer down to a pint one quart of cider and add to it four quarts of sliced apples. Cook till tender, flavor with a bit of lemon peel, if desired; beat to a smooth cream, pour into stone jars, cover when cool, and set away in a dry cold place. This sauce may be made in a large quantity. It will keep perfectly till warm weather. See also "Apple Butter" following. APPLE BUTTER In a porcelain kettle boil clown six quarts of cider till it measures four quarts. Have half a peck of fine, easy cooking, juicy, sweet apples. Peel, core, and slice as many of the apples as the cider will cover and drop them in the boiling cider. When the apples are tender, take them out with a Appie Parer skimmer, and lay in a stone crock. Do exactly the same with the rest of the half peck of apples. Pour the cider over, stir up from the bottom, and let stand overnight. The next morning put all together in the kettle, and slowly cook down till you have a jam or butter consistency. Be sure your heat is only moderate, for the butter must not burn. Put in bottles or jars and seal. TO BAKE SOUR APPLES