The household cook book

DAMSON SAUCE. — Take 6 lbs. ripe damsons, 1 quart cider vinegar, 1 1/2 lbs. sugar; boil until the damsons are soft, then take them out, mash them, put back into the syrup and boil from 1/2 to 3/4 hour, stirring them and watching that they do not stick to the kettle or burn. PRUNE SAUCE — (1) Soak the prunes over night; in the morning boil until they will slip from the stones easily; when used, slip them from the stones and serve with thick cream. (2) To 1 lb. prunes when put on to stew, add the juice and thin yellow rind of an orange; when done (when the stones are loose) sweeten with plenty of sugar. This sauce is excellent with rabbit, roast pig, kid, venison or fawn. STEWED PRUNES — Select good prunes, wash them, and let soak 1 or 2 hours if dry and hard; then cover them with boiling water, cover closely, and boil until tender and swollen; then for each quart of prunes add 2 tablespoons of sugar, and boil a little more, but not long enough to break the skins. A little lemon juice may be added if they are deficient in flavor. Prunes are simply dried plums. They are often used for their laxative effect by persons subject to habitual constipation. BAKED QUINCES — Choose ripe quinces, wash and core them, fill the cavities with sugar, put in a baking pan with a little water and bake until soft. They are very fine if eaten with sugar and butter when hot. STEWED QUINCES. — Choose good quinces, and pare, quarter and core them; add sufficient water to cover them, cover closely, and stew until tender; for each lb. of quinces add 1 cup of sugar, cover closely, and cook until a thick syrup. If \ as many apples as quinces are used it makes a nice dish. RAISINE. — Take very ripe but quite sound grapes, squeeze the juice from them and boil until it is reduced a half. Peel and core some pears, quarter them, put them in this grape syrup, and boil till it is reduced a third. It may be made with unripe grapes, but then sugar must be added, allowing 1/2 lb. to each pint of grape juice. STEWED RHUBARB — Peel it, cut into inch pieces, stew it until soft, and sweeten to taste. If very sour, it can be allowed to first stand 5 minutes in boiling water, then drain it out and put it in fresh water to stew. This extracts part of its acid, and less sugar is then needed to sweeten it. Rhubarb and green currants mixed together, stewed, and sweetened to taste, make a pleasant sauce. RHUBARB BUTTER— To each pound of rhubarb, which is peeled and chopped, allow 2 cups sugar; let them simmer together until it is done. A Hint. — If equal quantities of rhubarb and any other kind of fruit are mixed together the rhubarb will soon taste exactly like the other fruit. Rhubarb is a native of Asia, and its introduction into Europe is of quite recent date. It belongs to the buckwheat order. Although it cannot be eaten raw, when cooked it is much used. All kinds are best for culinary purposes when blanched. The stalks are sometimes partly blanched