Make the most delicious of all tarts. Rub off the dried blossoms and stems, gathering the berries when they have attained their growth but are still unripe. To one pound of gooseberries allow one pound of white sugar ; make a sirup of the sugar with half a pint of water to five pounds of fruit, and stew them together until the berries are done through, but still whole ; half an hour will be time enough to allow, and the color is best preserved by keeping the fruit uncovered. For winter use, fill quart self-sealing bottles that have been scalded just before the fruit is put into them with water directly from the kettle ; fill to the very brim, seal up tight, and either wrap in thick paper or keep on a shelf in a dark closet. Old-fashioned house- keepers used to put gooseberries away in clean, dry black glass bottles, filling them up with the raw fruit fresh from the garden. If in a few days the berries were found to be shrunken, more were added, the cork driven in tight and sealed, and the bottle stored in a cellar. This plan is still followed with success, and gooseberry tart is not to be despised even amid the dainties of the Christmas board. Gbeengagb Plums Make tarts next to gooseberry in excellence, if gathered while green, the seeds taken out with a penknife, and VmomiA COOKEMT'BOOK, 339 stewed for fifteen minutes, with a pound of sugar allowed to every pound of fruit. These may also be put up for winter use in self -sealing cans, just as gooseberries are. A delightful jam is furnished by stewing the seeded fruit alone for twenty minutes, then adding half a pound of sugar to each pound of plums, and cooking them to- gether until they are as thick a jam as you like. If you wish to make of them an ornamental preserve, prick each plum through with a coarse needle, and pro- ceed exactly as in the directions for preserving wax-cher- ries previously given in this book. Jelly. For whatever jelly you purpose to make from berries the directions are identical. If you would have it bright and clear, drip, and do not squeeze, juice through a flan- nel bag. Let the fruit be perfectly fresh and sweet, and do not let it cook a moment longer than necessary in get- ting the berries ready to drip. A good plan is to squeeze the juice first out of the raw berries, and then let it drip and clarify before proceeding to make the jelly. A con- venient arrangement for straining juice during a whole season is to take an empty barrel and place in the bot- tom of it a bowl in which to catch drippings. Buy a yard of strong, coarse flannel✪ Jelly, and sew it to a hoop fitting the mouth of the barrel, using all available dexterity in making it fit and assume the desirable bag-like shape. You will find it answer admirably, and easy enough to rinse out and dry each time, in readiness for a new parcel of fruit, whether for jelly or drink. Blackberry jelly is most desirable in a family where there are children, for it has really medicinal qualities, and is always accepta- ble to the little creatures. Strawberry jelly is of a rich garnet color, and may be tnade the nearest approach to 340 VIBQINIA COOKERY-BOOK. gaava jelly, which it closely resembles in taste. Rasp- berry jelly is a delightful constituent of " floating-island" and other creams ; therefore most useful to have among one's stores. The diligent house-keeper, then, will not neglect to lay in supplies of this sort. Gbape Pbesebvbs.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Make the most delicious of all tarts. Rub off the dried blossoms and stems, gathering the berries when they have attained their growth but are still unripe. To one pound of gooseberries allow one pound of white sugar ; make a sirup of the sugar with half a pint of water to five pounds of fruit, and stew them together until the berries are done through, but still whole ; half an hour will be time enough to allow, and the color is best preserved by keeping the fruit uncovered. For winter use, fill quart self-sealing bottles that have been scalded just before the fruit is put into them with water directly from the kettle ; fill to the very brim, seal up tight, and either wrap in thick paper or keep on a shelf in a dark closet. Old-fashioned housekeepers used to put gooseberries away in clean, dry black glass bottles, filling them up with the raw fruit fresh from the garden. If in a few days the berries were found to be shrunken, more were added, the cork driven in tight and sealed, and the bottle stored in a cellar. This plan is still followed with success, and gooseberry tart is not to be despised even amid the dainties of the Christmas board. Gbeengagb Plums Make tarts next to gooseberry in excellence, if gathered while green, the seeds taken out with a penknife, and [illustration: Virginia Cookery-book, 339] stewed for fifteen minutes, with a pound of sugar allowed to every pound of fruit. These may also be put up for winter use in self -sealing cans, just as gooseberries are. A delightful jam is furnished by stewing the seeded fruit alone for twenty minutes, then adding half a pound of sugar to each pound of plums, and cooking them together until they are as thick a jam as you like. If you wish to make of them an ornamental preserve, prick each plum through with a coarse needle, and proceed exactly as in the directions for preserving wax-cherries previously given in this book. Jelly. For whatever jelly you purpose to make from berries the directions are identical. If you would have it bright and clear, drip, and do not squeeze, juice through a flannel bag. Let the fruit be perfectly fresh and sweet, and do not let it cook a moment longer than necessary in getting the berries ready to drip. A good plan is to squeeze the juice first out of the raw berries, and then let it drip and clarify before proceeding to make the jelly. A convenient arrangement for straining juice during a whole season is to take an empty barrel and place in the bottom of it a bowl in which to catch drippings. Buy a yard of strong, coarse flannel, and sew it to a hoop fitting the mouth of the barrel, using all available dexterity in making it fit and assume the desirable bag-like shape. You will find it answer admirably, and easy enough to rinse out and dry each time, in readiness for a new parcel of fruit, whether for jelly or drink. Blackberry jelly is most desirable in a family where there are children, for it has really medicinal qualities, and is always acceptable to the little creatures. Strawberry jelly is of a rich garnet color, and may be tnade the nearest approach to guava jelly, which it closely resembles in taste. Raspberry jelly is a delightful constituent of " floating-island" and other creams ; therefore most useful to have among one's stores. The diligent house-keeper, then, will not neglect to lay in supplies of this sort. Gbape Pbesebvbs.

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