Lessons in cooking through preparation of meals

Wash and cut into small pieces 4 lbs. of Greening apples, and put into a granite sauce pan. Wash and chop quite fine enough mint to fill one cup, and add to the apples. Add enough water to keep from burning, and cook until the apples are tender and fall to pieces. Then strain, pressing the bag to extract the juice. Use ^ c sugar to each c of juice. Cook until about ready to jelly, then add 4 t lemon juice, and enough color paste to make a delicate green, and pour into glasses. Creme de Menthe cordial may be used if the fresh mint cannot be obtained, adding enough to give the desired flavor. Combination for Jellies For combinations of fruits that are ripe at different times, such as apple and raspberry, strawberry and apple, blackberry and quince, currants and peaches, extract the juice of the fruit that is ripe first, bring to the boil, put into sterilized jars or bottles and seal. Then when the other fruit is ripe make the jelly according to directions given above for jelly making. Apple and quince in equal parts make an excellent jelly. Rose Geranium Jelly Make apple jelly, place a rose geranium leaf in the bottom of each glass, and pour on the hot jelly. The geranium leaf will rise to the top. If one desires a delicate flavor remove the leaf at once. A very strong flavor, too strong to be desirable, will result if the leaf is left in the glass. Grape Jam Wash the grapes and remove from the stems, separate the skin from the pulp, and cook the latter until the seeds are freed. Then strain through a coarse sieve, pressing all through but the seeds. Then add to the skins, heat to the boiling point, and add sugar in the proportion of ^^ part to I part of fruit. Cook until it thickens slightly on a cold dish. Tomato Marmalade Remove the skins from 4 lbs. ripe tomatoes and slice. Slice 4 lemons very thin, being careful to remove all the seeds, and add to the tomatoes with j/2 c seeded raisins. Bring slowly to the simmering point and then add 3 lbs. sugar. Let simmer until of the consistency of marmalade, pour into sterilized jars and seal. A medium time of boiling, (from 8 to 30 m) gives the best results. With juice extracted with the aid of little or no water, such as grape, currant, etc., bring it to the boiling point, boil about 5 m, then add the sugar heated through, and boil until it gives the jelly test. Having the sugar hot prevents the cooling down of the fruit juice, which would make the cooking process longer. To heat the sugar, put it in a large dripping pan, and set in a warm oven, stir from time to time, heating it gradually without melting. Test for Jelly The quick test, and one which proves to be very accurate after experience, is the sheeting (that is, dropping in a whole transparent sheet) from the spoon. The cooling test should be used by the inexperienced person, or if there is any doubt. This consists in putting a spoonful of the jelly on a sauce dish, and cooling quickly on ice or otherwise to see if it jellies. In using the latter test, which necessarily takes a few minutes, the kettle of jelly should be set back so that the cooking is retarded, as those few minutes might carry it beyond the right point.