The Rural cook book

Milk, Canning. — A correspondent tells us she has canned milk in this way and kept it a year : Allow the milk to become perfectly cold, then fill sterilized fruit jars to within a half inch of the top; put on the covers loosely and set into a clean boiler on a board with holes through ; ' fill boiler with cold water to within an inch of the tops of the jars; bring the water to the boiling point and allow it to boil 20 minutes after ebullition begins, then remove the cans one by one, put on new rubbers, fill with boiling milk, screw the covers on and invert the cans till cold. Put away in a cool, dark place and use when the cows have dried up. Of course this will taste like scalded milk, but for all purposes except drinking it is all right. As the cream does not dry, it can readily be mixed with the milk if desired. If directions are followed carefully and everything used made perfectly clean little or none will spoil. It is quite essential to use new rubber rings, as old ones become hard and will not make the jars tight. Orra-cur. — Five pounds of currants, five pounds of sugar, juice and grated rinds of three oranges, one pound of raisins, chopped and stoned ; boil all together for 20 minutes, and put away in jelly glasses. Peach Butter. — This is a nice way to use up peaches that are too ripe for canning or pickling. Pare ripe peaches, put in a kettle with sufficient water to cover peaches ; when soft run through a colander, the stones being thus easily removed To each quart of peaches thus prepared add V/i pound of granulated sugar. Boil slowly till thick; add ground cinnamon to taste. This, like all butters and marmalades, requires constant watching to keep the fruit from burning. Spiced Peaches. — Weigh eight pounds of freestone peaches after they have been peeled, halved and the stones taken out. Put peaches in a porcelain lined kettle with one pint of vinegar and five pounds of sugar (granulated). Mix one ounce each of cinnamon sticks, whole mace and green ginger and one-half ounce of whole cloves. Divide into eight parts, tie each in a piece of cheesecloth and drop in the kettle with the peaches. Simmer until the fruit is tender, then lift it with a skimmer and put it in sterilized jars. Boil the syrup a minute, skim, lift out the Bags, then pour over the fruit in the jars. It is an improvement to break IS peach stones, blanch the kernels in boiling water and add them to the syrup just before pouring it into the jars. Peach Jam.— Pare, stone and cut into thin slices half a peck of freestone peaches. Weigh. To each pound of fruit add three-quarters of a pound of granulated sugar. Put in layers in a preserve kettle and let them cook gently until clear, which will probably take an hour. Have ready cracked one-third the peach stones, remove and blanch the kernels, then slice them thin and sprinkle them among the layers of peaches so all can cook together. Put into small glass jars or tumblers when cold Shut up air-tight. Peach Leather.— Pare fully ripe peaches (yellow ones preferred) ; remove the pits and weigh. To each pound of fruit add one-fourth pound of granulated sugar. Put in stew kettle and cook slowly, mashing the fruit as it boils. When cooked to a thick paste spread on a buttered board and put in the sun to dry. Put out the second day and when dry enough that it will not slick, loll up like a roll of leather and keep in a cool, dry place. Slice from the end of the roll. . Pears in Cider.— One of our friends reports that KJeffer pears are delicious canned in sweet cider. The customary syrup is made bj naelt tng sugar in the cider, and the pears are cooked in this (not over-cooked) either in the jars or in a kettle. The cider is said to give much richness