For sauces, soups and croquettes.
Cook together sliced onions, browned flour and oil with salt and water until onions are tender; strain, keep in cool place.
Steep peach leaves in water for almond flavor.
Finely-ground coriander seed is a delightful and not unwholesome flavoring. It is cheaper to buy the seed by the pound. A half pound will go a long way. Do not grind too much at a time.
Ground anise seed in minute quantities is unequaled for some things, but is disagreeable when used too liberally.
For sweet dishes to be flavored with lemon or orange, score the rind of the fruit lightly with a sharp-tined fork. Drop thescored fruit into the measured sugar and rub it well with the sugar.
Another way of obtaining the flavor, also of grape fruit, is to pour boiling water over the thinly-pared yellow rind and when cold, strain. For salads, let that thin rind stand in the lemon or other fruit juices for a time and then remove.
When obliged to use lemon or orange extracts, use only a few drops instead of the teaspoonful of the average recipe.
Rose is another of the delightful flavors to be used sparingly.
To flavor with cocoanut, when the fibre is not desired, steep (do not boil) the cocoanut in milk for 15–20 m., then strain it out.
To flavor lemon juice for cooked or uncooked dressings, take to each three tablespns. of lemon juice and one of water, a slice of onion, a bay leaf, and ¼ teaspn. of celery seed or 1 tablespn. of chopped celery leaves. Boil a moment, then cool and strain. Tarragon and chives may be used for the flavorings. Onion, bay leaf, thyme, a trifle of garlic if liked, and a few thin yellow-slices of orange peel make another combination.
The salad dish is sometimes rubbed with the cut surface of a clove of garlic or a slice of onion, or onion may be chopped or grated. Crushed celery seed is liked by some in salad dressings. Spearmint is very refreshing. Delicate tender sassafras leaves may be used in fruit and nut meat salads.
Shredded fresh mint combines well with orange or grape fruit or with currant juice; tarragon with red raspberries and currants, and basil with peaches.
In closing the subject of flavorings, I quote the words of a lady visitor after sampling some of the dishes prepared by a class in cookery:
“Any one can give a taste to foods by adding condiments and flavorings, but to develop the flavors of the foods themselves is an art.”
The saying that “some people eat with their eyes” is true to a great extent of all of us. I believe that the veriest savage would better enjoy his dinner, however rude, if somewhere there were tucked into it a bit of green. The busy farmer’s wife as she goes to the wood pile for an armful of wood can quickly pick off a spray of May weed, dropping it into a tin of cold water as she passes the water pail, and her platter of beans for dinner is transformed, in the eyes of those children, into a thing of beauty, and what effect may it not have in the formation of their characters?
Of variety in garnishing there need be no lack with the garden, wayside and woods abounding in beautiful leaves, vines and flowers.
There are foliage plant, geranium, and autumn leaves, ferns in variety, with lettuce, endive, spinach, parsley, chervil and carrot tops. The variegated variety of beet leaves, as also the bright blossoms of nasturtiums make a brilliant garnish.
Put parsley, ferns, and all of the green leaves and vines into very cold water as soon as gathered and leave for some time, then keep in paper sacks in a cold place away from the wind. Repeat the cold water bath at intervals.
Barberries canned, or preserved in brine, candied cranberries or cherries, green grapes in brine, designs cut from orange, lemon grape fruit and tangerine rinds, tomatoes in slices or in lengthwise pieces, and slices of lemon or orange with the skin on are all suitable garnishes at times.
Lemon cups, having a slice cut off from the ends so that they will stand, may be used for mayonnaise or small servings of salad.
Orange and grape fruit halves with tops notched or scalloped or sometimes cut in deep points rolled down, and orange baskets make a change of service. All of these fruit cups should be keptin ice water or chopped ice until serving time, then thoroughly dried with a soft towel.
Blood oranges and gelatine oranges are novelties for garnishing.
Sprays of maidenhair fern are pretty under grape fruit and orange cups.
All cups or glasses containing salads or creams should be served on doilies on small plates.
To prepare fringed celery, cut the stalks into two- or three-in. lengths, then slice very fine from each end to within ¾–1 in. of the center and leave in ice water for a time. Do not lay in ice water before preparing. The short tender stalks may have the leaves left on and be shredded at the opposite end. Celeryleavesmake a desirable garnish.
Cut carrots, beets and yellow turnips into slices or sticks, or into round pieces with an open-top thimble or a round pastry tube, and into fancy shapes with vegetable cutters, selecting cutters which have not sharp points or slender stems.
Get either the turnip or olive shaped radishes, wash them well, trim off just the slender tips and all but one or two of the smallest leaves. With a thin, sharp knife cut them into halves from the tip end almost to the stem, and the same way into quarters and eighths. Then carefully loosen the rind of each section as far down as it is cut and throw the radishes into ice water, leaving them there for several hours or overnight, when they will have bloomed into beautiful lilies. Pure white or yellow lilies may be made from yellow or white radishes. Serve directly from the ice water, and the radishes will be crisp and sweet and easily digested.
Just one radish sometimes, in a spray or two of parsley or chervil is better than a more elaborate garnish; a red radish sliced or cut into quarters or sixths is pretty in a little green.
Roll up imperfect leaves of lettuce and slice in thin slices, then pick up lightly and use for borders or nests or beds.
Dry parsley thoroughly in a towel before chopping. For rolling, spread the particles out, a little distance apart, so as to just fleck whatever is rolled in it.
Use nuts chopped or in halves or broken pieces for borders or nests of fruit or vegetable salads; never put them into the dressing.
Potatoes may be cut into balls with a vegetable scoop, boiled until just tender, not broken, drained, sprinkled with chopped parsley and used for garnishing a true meat dish.
Cut the hard boiled yolks of eggs into round pieces and the whites into petal shapes for daisies for decorating the tops of small spinach or other timbales or molds.
The whites and yolks are better poached separately for garnishing. Cut whites with vegetable cutters sometimes.
Use the end of a small black olive for the center of daisies, and carrots for the leaves.
Toast points or croutons of different shapes are suitable garnishes for timbales, eggs, broiled mushrooms and true meat or vegetable stews, or we may use pieces of bread of different shapes that have been dipped in egg yolks and milk and baked. Breaded triangles, squares or circles, of corn meal porridge may be used to garnish the edge of a platter for a stew.
Serve some creamed dishes or stews in shells of pastry.
Turk’s head and border molds may be decorated with truffles or other decorations, and used for meat dishes for variety.
Button mushrooms may be used for garnishing individual timbales.
Cut left overs of pie crust or cracker dough into fancy shapes,for scalloped dishes, salads and some desserts, and into squares, diamonds or strips for peas and other vegetables.
For legumes or other meat dishes, sometimes use carrots in dice or slices, sprinkled with chopped parsley or interspersed with sprigs of parsley.
Lemon Points.—Cut slices of lemon into four or six parts.
The pastry bag gives variety in garnishing and decorating. The bag itself may be of rubber, paper or cloth. Cloth for all purposes is the most practical. To make, take “Indian Head” or other heavy cloth, cut it into any sized square desired; fold and sew together in cornucopia shape (the seam is better felled), trim the top evenly and hem; then cut off a very little from the point and hem that, leaving the opening just large enough to insert the tubes one-third to one-half their length.
Paper bags may be used in an emergency, and rubber for some purposes, but not for anything containing oil.
Mashed peas and potatoes should not be too dry for decorating.
Mayonnaise dressing and whipped cream should be stiff, as also meringues.
Cover berries with water, boil till the skins break, strain, add 1 cup of sugar to each pint of juice; boil, bottle, seal.
For Red, cook strained tomato to a thick pulp; or slice a bright red raw beet into cold water and let it stand on the stove where it will heat slowly to a little below the boiling point and strain.
For Green, bruise parsley, spinach, chervil, onion tops, chives, tarragon or lettuce, with or without lemon, and press out the juice for coloring.
For Yellow, steep saffron in boiling water for ½–1 hour and strain when cold.
When these colorings are not suitable, the so-called “fruit colors” for sale at the groceries may be used. Use only enough for delicate shades.
The arrangement and garnishing of salads depends largely upon individual taste and skill in the use of things at hand, and is a matter of importance.
The garnish should be a suitable one and should harmonize with the ingredients of the salad. For example, a dainty flower or vine with a delicate fruit salad, and slices or fancy shapes of vegetables with true meat salads.
Red apple, or tomato cups may be used for light colored salads, and yellow tomato, or green and white apple cups for bright ones.
Juicy fruit salads should be served in dainty glasses or cups; and a correspondingly dainty doily on the plate underneath the glass with a delicate flower or leaf by its side, leaves nothing to be desired.
“We do not attain perfection by striving to do something out of the common.“Perfection is acquired by doing the common things uncommonly well.”—Mowry.
“We do not attain perfection by striving to do something out of the common.
“Perfection is acquired by doing the common things uncommonly well.”—Mowry.
“Man has always thrived as he has eaten freely of fruits.”—H. Irving Hancock.
“The best food on this planet is ripe fruit. The healthiest people on the globe are the fruit eaters of tropical countries. The great muscular Maoris of New Zealand are a frugiverous race. I have seen a boat crew of these great chocolate colored giants that would outrow the ‘crack’ university crews were they properly trained. The bread fruit of the Samoan Islands has made a race of giants. I have examined these men and women on their native soil and finer human specimens never lived.”—Dr. Paul Edwards.
“The more we depend upon the fresh fruit just as it is plucked from the tree, the greater will be the blessing.”
“It would be well for us to do less cooking and to eat more fruit in its natural state. Eat freely of fresh grapes, apples, peaches, pears, berries and all other kinds of fruit that can be obtained.”
Fruits supply sugar, acids, mineral matter and bulk. The mineral elements of fruits are more readily assimilated than those of flesh meat and vegetables. Acid fruits aid in the digestion of nuts and other nitrogenous foods. Acid, juicy fruits keep the system clean and free from germs. They render lime and soda salts soluble, enabling the system to throw them off. Theyallayinstead ofcreatingthirst. Alcohol and tobacco cannot stay long with the individual who uses no flesh foods and partakes freely of ripe juicy fruits. Use more fruit and fewer vegetables if you would not experience thirst.
Cane sugar is not digested in the stomach but causes fermentationby hindering the digestion of other foods. The sugar of fruits (grape and fruit sugar, so-called), and that of honey are all ready for assimilation, so require less labor on the part of the body and may be used more rapidly for the repair of muscular fatigue.
The laxative effect of fruit is very important. Very ripe bananas taken when the stomach is empty often produce immediate effect. Pineapples after nitrogenous foods, ripe olives, peaches, pears and nearly all fruits are helpful.
It is better to use the juice and pulp only, of seedy fruits like blackberries and black raspberries. With many people the seeds produce hives.
The matter of bulk in the diet is an important one. The whole digestive tract suffers if there is not a fairly good bulk of food to be handled by it, yet serious results follow when a large quantity of concentrated food is consumed; consequently, fruits and green vegetables being composed largely of water supply just what is needed.
Fruit must be thoroughly ripened, sound and well matured. Many unripe fruits contain raw starch which causes trouble when they are eaten.
The largest fruit of its kind is usually the cheapest. It is poor economy to spend money and (if the fruit requires paring) time, for seeds, skins, and cores. Besides, as a rule the larger fruit is more perfectly matured, so more wholesome as well as of a finer flavor.
Do not use the skins of fruits much. They are composed largely of woody fibre and are intended only for a covering to the fruit. In the days of stomach washes, the skins of fruits were noticeably abundant in the “unswallowed” food.
For the best effect, fruits should be used without sugar. When one has accustomed himself to the use of grape fruit and oranges without sugar, the addition of it will make them positively disagreeableto his taste, besides causing rebellion in the stomach.
Since acids hinder the digestion of starch, it is better to take acid fruits at the close of a meal including starchy foods, and we should especially avoid taking starches and acids into the mouth at the same time, before the starch has been acted upon by the saliva.
There is great opportunity for the display of artistic skill in serving fresh fruits, and nothing so well repays a little effort as the combination of leaves, ferns and vines with fruits. One beautiful dish that I remember was of plums, grapes and peaches with autumn leaves; another, with rich branches of foliage plants and a variety of fruits. Grape leaves combine beautifully with fruits.
One person with whom I am acquainted can use no starchy foods. The many attempts which she has made to use them invariably result in her becoming extremely weak, and helpless with rheumatism; but she thrives on a diet composed almost exclusively of acid fruits and nuts. She writes—“On my fruit and nut diet I seldom feel thirst, but after eating even starchless vegetables I suffer exceedingly from it. I find also that I do not require so much sleep as when living on another diet.” Her chief fruits are sour apples, grape fruit, oranges and mealy-ripe bananas with a few raisins, dates and figs occasionally for dessert. She is at her best when currants are ripe; and takes them every day as long as they can be obtained.
The apple, of which there are said to be over 2000 varieties, has no equal as an “all-round” fruit; but it is at its best just pared and eaten raw. It requires thorough mastication both for digestion and enjoyment.
When you are not feeling quite at par, cut an apple in two from stem to blossom end and with a round pointed knife scrape it into a fine pulp from either side. It is most refreshing andeasily digested so. Children and people whose teeth are defective can take it best that way.
The apple is the choicest salad fruit.
The fact that the banana is a serious cause of indigestion when just turned yellow is quite generally understood, and fruit eaters now buy them and keep them until they become not just soft, butmellow ripe, which will be after the skins are dark or covered with dark spots. As long as they have a “pasty” feeling in the mouth they are unfit for food because the starch is not yet changed to sugar.
Do not try to hurry the ripening process as bananas are better when ripened slowly. Keep them in the dark, in a not too cold place and give them plenty of time. Large, plump bananas are far superior to small slender ones in wholesomeness and flavor, besides being cheaper.
There is no other way of using bananas to compare with eating them “out of hand” with the skin and fibres removed; but they may be served with sugar and lemon juice for luncheon or with whipped cream for dessert.
Almond cream is very harmonious with bananas. Peeled bananas with a little almond butter accompanying each mouthful make a complete and delightful luncheon. Brazil nut butter and cream are also excellent with bananas.
Wild blackberries are sweeter and finer flavored than cultivated ones and eaten in small quantities from the bush are very enjoyable, but they should not be taken in large quantities with their seeds. They may be served with nut, or whipped dairy cream. With a thin syrup of sugar and water they are delicious.
Wash, drain, chill, cut in halves and remove the seeds with around-pointed spoon (not a sharp pointed knife) or with the fingers. Do not put ice inside as it destroys the flavor. Serve on mat of grape leaves.
Wash, drain, serve on the stems plain or around a mold of sugar (made by pressing not too dry powdered or granulated sugar into a small glass, and unmolding in the center of the plate), or a spoonful of sugar, on a dainty dish. Nice, very ripe currants are especially refreshing and reviving.
Pick fine even bunches of currants and dip them, one at atime, into a mixture of frothed white of egg and a very little cold water. Drain them until nearly dry and roll in powdered sugar. Repeat the dip in the sugar once or twice and lay them on white paper to dry. Use as a garnish.
Serve dates piled on a dessert plate with halves of nuts around, or on individual dishes with a spoonful of any desired nut butter or meal in the center of the dish.
Slice dates and cover with nut or dairy cream. Dairy cream may be whipped and piled in center of dish with fruit around.
One writer on health subjects recommends dates and milk or figs and milk as an improvement upon bread and milk. They make an excellent combination and a satisfying meal.
Nut milk or nut cream are ideal for sweet fruits.
Serve figs with nuts and with cream, the same as dates. For Stuffed Dates and Figs, seeConfections.
Nice large ripe gooseberries are most enjoyable right from the bushes.
There is perhaps no fruit more highly recommended than the grape. One says: “It is safe to say that the juice of no other fruit or vegetable so strikingly resembles blood in its composition as the unfermented juice of grapes.”
Another: “Grapes eaten exclusively for several days bring about wonderful results in the system. From one to two pounds should be consumed daily at first, gradually increasing to eight or ten pounds.”
The “grape cures” in France and Germany are too well known to require mention. There is said to be “a life giving principle in grapes which builds tissue and stimulates the sympathetic nervous system.”
These quotations apply particularly to fresh grapes. Cooked grapes and juice do not agree with every one.
Take the late grapes, pick them carefully, spread them in a cool place in layers on shelves, let them remain two weeks, then pack in barrels with dry hard-wood sawdust. Bran will answer very well. Packed in this manner the fruit will keep good through the winter it is said. After packing, grapes should be kept in a cool, dry place.
Cut in halves crosswise, remove seeds with sharp pointed knife, and separate the pulp from the bitter membrane between the sections. Serve one half to each person in peel or small glass, or serve halves after removing seeds without separating pulp. The fruit should not be cut long before serving as the juice and pulp absorb the bitter of the cut membrane. Taken at the close of the meal, grape fruit is an aid to digestion. The effect will bebetter without sugar. As a dessert, it is sometimes served with a tablespoonful of thick maple syrup in the center.
Prepare grape fruit as for salad, combine with halved, seeded Malaga grapes and sugar; refill cups which have been wiped dry after standing in ice water. Garnish with candied cherries or blanched almonds.
Mix grape fruit pulp with orange pulp, grated cocoanut and sugar. Serve, sprinkled with cocoanut, in its own cups or in glasses.
“When properly prepared, olives like nuts supply the place of butter and flesh meats. Oil as eaten in the olive is far preferable to animal oil or fat. It serves as a laxative. Its use will be found beneficial to consumptives and it is healing to an inflamed, irritated stomach.”
The olive contains more protein than any of the other common fruits, and with the exception of the alligator pear is the only one containing any appreciable amount of oil. Until within a few years we have been eating this valuable fruit in its unripe state, but now we get it, both imported and home grown, ripe. There is just as much difference between a ripe and green olive as between a ripe and green apple.
The ripe olive is black or dark brown in color (according to where it was grown) and has its full quota of oil. After one has eaten ripe olives for a time, the green ones will have a harsh, rank taste to him. It is also much easier to acquire a taste for the ripe olive. The large, luscious ones with meat as thick as that of a good sized plum are truly delightful.
Those hurried on to the eastern market from California before the holidays are not thoroughly ripened, but there are somegrowers who hold them until properly matured before gathering. Olives are better just soaked a little and eaten in that state than to be used in cooked dishes; but when used in soups or sauces, add without cooking just before serving.
Ripe olives are a valuable substitute for butter with bread, giving an emulsified oil instead of a free fat, with no germs of tuberculosis or other diseases.
The dried olives sold by Italian grocers require a long soaking and several changes of water. They, too, become stronger flavored by cooking. They are considerably cheaper than the bottled ones but much less delicate in flavor.
“The one thing that quickest revives a human being is orange juice.”—Dr. Paul Edwards.
“The orange is a fruit that is distinctly health-giving. Orange juice aids greatly in reducing the amount of putrefaction in the intestines of nearly all persons who are submitted to clinical laboratory tests.”—H. Irving Hancock, in “Good Housekeeping.”
The white separating membrane of the orange is rather indigestible, so in many cases it is better to use the juice or pulp only.
I am going to tell you how to “drink” oranges. First, cut the orange in halves from end to end, then cut each half in three or four pieces; place each one of these oblong cups to the lips and extract the juice, rejecting the seeds and leaving all the membrane. This method is most refreshing, if not elegant. Eaten with a spoon from the halves cut across is, next to this, most satisfying, but takes more time.
In Jamaica they peel off the outer yellow skin and cut the orange across into two unequal portions. They extract the juice and pulp from the larger stem section first, and reserve the smaller, sweeter section for the last.
Again, they peel the yellow part of the rind off about one-fourthof the way down, run the knife into the peeled end and cut away a conical portion of the pulp, thus opening all of the sections of the orange. They then suck out the juice, without any burned lips as the result.
One nice way to prepare the pulp is to peel the fruit as you would an apple, cutting deep enough to remove all the white portion of the covering; then to cut all around each section of pulp, just inside the separating membrane, when you can remove the pure pulp. Serve in glass sauce-dish, or in cups,—orange, glass or china.
Another dainty and satisfactory way of preparing an orange is to “cut two circles through the skin around the fruit about ½ in. apart and half way between the two ends. Remove all the rind except the half-inch band. Just over one of the natural separations between the sections of the orange, cut the band with a sharp knife. All the divisions may then be carefully separated one from another, while all remain attached to the girdle of yellow rind. Oranges may be laid in layers on a fruit plate, outstretched upon the narrow piece of peeling, or they may, after the several divisions havebeen carefully made, be closed together again. A ribbon tied around the orange over the rind girdle will preserve the spherical form and be very pretty and ornamental. It is but the act of a moment to untie this ribbon, when the sections will all lie before one in perfect readiness to be eaten.”—Clipping.
Ripe mellow peaches are incomparable both for health and palatability. They are equally good both for grown people and children, though one writer says “the ripe mellow peach is really the child’s fruit.”
A friend fold me that an old Indian came to the house when her little brother was lying at the point of death, and said, “peach juice will keep him alive.” The mother, anxious toleave nothing untried, began giving him the juice of stewed peaches, from which time he began to retain his food (the mother’s milk) and to improve in every way. When he came to be weaned, peach juice and gradually the soft halves of peaches were his sole diet for eight months; then other foods were introduced sparingly, but all his life peaches have formed a large part of his diet and he is an unusually well man.
Wash and carefully rub peaches in cold water, and rub them well with a soft cloth in wiping to remove the down, which is irritating.
Peaches should ripen on the trees; the shipped ones are often suitable for cooking only as they are gathered before they are ripe. Some varieties are sour and disagreeable, while others are sweet and luscious.
Few people know how exceedingly delightful rich juicy white peaches are.
Pare peaches just as short a time before they are to be served as possible. Cut in halves, quarters or thick slices. Do not sweeten but pass sugar and unwhipped cream with them. Almond or cocoanut cream are especially suitable for peaches.
Add sweetened cream to stiffly-beaten whites of eggs (⅓ cup to each white) and pour over peaches just before serving. All must be cold.
Peaches combine nicely with bananas and with red raspberries. The juice of the berries may be served over the peaches instead of cream.
The pineapple is another of the universal favorites and deservedly. Its delightful flavor is unequaled and the fresh juice contains bromelin, a remarkably active principle which aids digestion both in the stomach and in the intestinal tract. A sliceor two of pineapple taken at the close of a meal gives a marked laxative effect. The use of pineapple in diphtheriais well known. I knew a very successful physician in one of our large cities who always had quantities of pineapple canned each year for use in diphtheria cases. The digestive ferment is not quite so active in the cooked fruit as in the uncooked.
Use only choice large well ripened sound pineapples. Wash and drain; give the crown a twist with the hand, when it will come out easily if the fruit is ripe. Set the pineapple on a board and with a large sharp knife pare it by cutting slices down from the top all around, cut thick enough to remove all the woody covering (the fruit in connection with that has very little flavor), leaving only the deepest eyes.
After removing the eyes, take the pineapple in the left hand with the base up and shred it by picking up small pieces all around with the tines of a silver fork. It will come off easily from that end, leaving the core, which should be wrung to obtain all the juice.
Let the fruit stand in layers with sugar, ¼ to ½ cup, (or ¼ to ⅓ cup sugar, ½ to 1 tablespn. lemon juice and ¾ cup water) to each pint, for some time before serving, or, serve plain and pass sugar with it. Pineapple and strawberries or raspberries or oranges with lemon juice and sugar are nice alone, or with cake, for dessert.
Equal quantities of prepared pineapple and grape fruit with sugar and the juice of either poured over.
Peach, orange and pineapple is another nice combination.
Drain finely-shredded pineapple and beat with whipped cream, as much as can be used and keep the combination stiff. Serve cold in glasses.
Equal quantities ripe strawberries, shredded pineapple and cream. Whip cream, place layer of pineapple in dish, sprinkle with sugar, cover with cream, then make a layer of strawberries, sugar and cream. Continue. Have cream on top. Serve cold with sponge cake or cocoanut crisps.
Drained shredded pineapple, orange pulp and juice, grated cocoanut and sugar, in layers.
Raisins are nutritious and valuable foods, containing sometimes as high as 61 per cent. of grape sugar and a considerable proportion of albuminoids. They are suitably combined with all kinds of bread and nuts. One thing that makes them so satisfying is that they require thorough mastication.
When necessary to wash, have cold water in a deep pan and turn the berries in, not more than a quart at a time. (Do not pour the water over the berries as that bruises them.) Rinse up and down in the water with the hands and remove quickly to a colander. Drain, pile in dish and serve at once. Lemon or currant juice poured over makes a harmonious combination. ⅓ or ½ very ripe currants may be mixed with the berries. Serve Brazil nuts or blanched almonds with these combinations.
Black raspberries have a peculiar spicy flavor not found in any other fruit and when plump and thoroughly ripened may be used in moderate quantities in their natural state.
The perfect way to serve strawberries is the French—with the hulls on, without washing. Pass sugar with them, or pile the berries around a mold of sugar on individual plates, or, set a daintycup or glass containing sugar in the center of the plate and pile the berries around. But if the berries are very sandy, wash the same as red raspberries. Wash berries always before hulling unless obliged to let stand after hulling, then do not wash until just ready to serve. The little strawberry hullers snip the hulls out so quickly and so perfectly without staining the fingers that they seem among the indispensables of housekeeping.
Put sliced berries into glasses and pour sweetened orange juice over to more than cover. Let stand in a cool place 3 or 4 hrs. to improve the color. They may be served with an uncooked meringue garnished with halves or quarters of berries or a slice of orange.
The flavor of watermelon is better if cooled in water instead of on ice. To serve cut the melon in halves across and cut off pieces from the ends so that they will stand. Serve the pulp by spoonfuls, scooped out with a tablespoon. If convenient take the pieces out before sending to the table, remove the seeds and return the pieces to the shell, then keep in a cool place until serving time.
The watermelon furnishes an abundance of pure distilled water. Watermelons that are not very sweet maybe served with almond cream and sugar.
The most desirable of this family is the large purple soft pulpy sweet juicy berry growing in the swamps, and called in some parts of the country “blueberry.” It is delightful with nut or dairy cream or with sugar or in bread and milk. Its juice being so sweet it is one of the most suitable berries for sauce with cereals. In cakes puddings or pies it is equally enjoyable.
The so-called “huckleberry,” though more seedy, has a nice flavor when cooked.
Select nice tart apples; wash, drain, cut out the blossom end of each so that the little black particles will not get on to the fruit. Pare as thin as possible. When all are pared, cut into quarters, and core by cutting from both stem and blossom end downward to the center, just below the core. After coring, throw enough quarters into the kettle (granite, porcelain or aluminum) to about cover the bottom, and turn the quarters core side down. Then arrange another layer in the same way and continue until all are in. Pour boiling water over to half cover the apples (more or less according to the juiciness of the apples), cover kettle and set over hot fire. Cook without removing cover until apples are perfectly tender; remove from fire at once, stir in a little sugar if desired and a trifle of salt. This method gives a nice white well cooked sauce with a fresh apple taste. Placing the apples as directed causes them to cook tender quickly and evenly. The salt improves the flavor unless too much is used.
When apples are small or knotty, cook without paring, rub through colander and add a little sugar.
Place quartered apples in pudding dish as for apple sauce. Sprinkle delicately with sugar between the layers and over the top. Pour water in at the side of the dish so as to leave the sugar on the top. Cover and bake for several hours until the apples assume a rich red color.
Wash, quarter and core but do not pare apples; lay cut side down in pudding dish, pour very little if any water over, cover close, bake until tender. Remove cover and dry out well. Eat from the fingers, rejecting the skins, or scrape the pulp from theskin with a teaspoon. The skin imparts such richness and flavor to the pulp that it seems to have been sweetened with sugar.
To the natural taste, the apple is best just washed, put into a baking pan with little if any water (depending upon the juiciness of the apple), covered at first and baked until tender and dry. Some prefer to have the apples cored with ½–1 teaspn. of sugar (brown sugar sometimes) placed in the core space.
Core and pare nice large perfect apples. Place in the core space sugar with a little grated lemon or orange rind. Sprinkle outside of apples with sugar and turn a little lemon juice over for “Lemon Apples” or “Orange Apples.” Bake until just tender, with or without a little water.
Use citron, cocoanut, raisins or nuts with sugar for other varieties. Fill core space with jelly for “Jelly Apples.” Serve plain or with nut cream or whipped dairy cream, or with cocoanut or custard sauce or with wafers or nuts for dessert, at a meal without vegetables, especially starchy vegetables.
Lemon and jelly apples make suitable accompaniments to meat dishes.
Bake whole with plenty of water at first (covered part of the time) until perfectly tender and all the water is evaporated. Serve for dessert, or for breakfast or supper with nuts, or with nut or dairy cream, or in bread and milk, than which nothing is more delicious.
Put whole apples into preserving kettle, cover with thin syrup of sugar and water and cook until tender (carefully changing the apples from top to bottom once or twice) and the syrup just a little thick. Place the apples on plates and turn the syrup over.
Slice bananas, stew with a little sugar water and a trifle of ground or crushed anise seed tied in a piece of cheese cloth.
Prunes may be flavored the same.
Simmer bananas in butter in an aluminum or agate frying pan covered, on the top of the stove where it is not too hot. They will not be browned but simply stewed.
Cook raisins in a broad flat pan in water for an hour. Slice bananas over, cover and cook 10 m.
The simplest way to bake bananas is in the skins. It takes just 20 m. in a moderate oven. To eat, strip a piece of skin about an inch wide from the top side and partake of the baked fruit from the remaining skin in teaspoonfuls.
Bananas may be baked whole with a little water after peeling, and served with orange or cream sauce.
A little melted butter may be poured over bananas before baking or they may be rolled in lemon juice and sugar and baked. For a richer dish, turn mixed melted butter, sugar and lemon juice over bananas in lengthwise halves in agate pan. Bake 15–20 m. in slow oven. Serve with meat dishes sometimes.
Roll peeled bananas in fine granella, cracker or zwieback crumbs mixed with sugar. Bake in moderate oven till just tender. Serve at once.
Put a thin layer of stewed or sliced tomatoes in the bottom of a baking pan. Cover with bananas sliced crosswise. Bake.
Cranberries are said to “promote digestion and purify theblood.” There is no question but they are a desirable fruit and should be used freely in their season.
Pour boiling water over cranberries, let stand 2 m., or until cold; drain, add sugar and water, cook covered, until boiling all through. Rub through colander if the skins are objectionable. 2–3 tablespns. of lemon juice and more sugar may be added.
Make syrup of 1 pt. of water and 1½ cup of sugar; boil, cool. Pour over 1 qt. of cranberries in baking dish. Bake until clear.
Stew raisins in water until nearly tender; pour boiling water over cranberries and drain; cook all together until berries are done.
A larger proportion of raisins and less sugar may be used.
Whole, pared, cling-stone peaches; sugar, butter and lemon juice. Bake 40 m. May be served with meat dishes, or as dessert.
Wash, pare, halve, core. (Save skins and cores for jelly). Cover with a large quantity of thin sugar and water syrup. Bake covered, basting often and turning occasionally until tender and the syrup rich. Uncover at the last for a short time.
Pare and core quinces, bake with water only, basting. Serve with hard or creamy sauce or with nut cream and sugar.
Rhubarb is not a fruit but the stalk of the plant and as its acidis oxalic, it is a somewhat questionable article of diet. At all events it should not be used freely.
Wash rhubarb, do not peel, cut into ¾ in. pieces; cook with sugar, on the back of the stove until juicy; then stew till tender.
Cook all together.
Put rhubarb in baking dish with sugar and lemon juice as for stewing, with or without a little water. Cover and bake until tender.
It is said that if young cherry leaves are scalded and the juice added to cooked rhubarb, it will impart the flavor of cherries to the rhubarb.
The flavors of dried fruits are more natural and delicate with prolonged soaking and short (if any) cooking. Choice dried apples and apricots are especially enjoyable soaked over night or longer without any cooking. The juice from them makes an exceedingly refreshing drink.
Pour boiling water over fruit that requires washing to more perfectly loosen the dirt, then quickly add cold water. Wash thoroughly, cover with warm water and let stand for from 12 to 48 hrs. When perfectly swollen and soft, add sugar, if it is to be used, bring to the boiling point quickly and remove from the fire. These directions if followed will cause apples, apricots and peaches to seem almost like fresh stewed fruit.
A few fresh grapes stewed with peaches give them a nice flavor.
Raisins also (previously cooked) are nice with dried peaches.
The most delightful combination with dried apples is ⅓ prunelles. Raisins are also nice with apples.
Follow general directions.
These require no sugar but will bear a little longer cooking than peaches and apricots.
¾ prunes and ¼ apricots make a nice combination, also raisins or figs and prunes.
Cook prunes with a small amount of water and rub through colander. This removes the skins or breaks them up so that many can take them who otherwise could not. Served with almonds, beaten white of egg or almond or whipped cream, the marmalade makes a nice dessert.
Soak large prunes in a very little water, stirring occasionally so that all will be moistened. Steam ¾ of an hour. Cover as soon as removed from the steamer. Serve warm for breakfast. They may be steamed an hour without soaking.
Wash, soak, cook until tender, reduce liquor to syrup and pour over fruit. Serve with wafers or nuts or with whipped cream flavored with vanilla or almond.
Wash figs and steam 25–35 m. according to dryness. Long steaming gives them a strong flavor. Cover, and serve warm. The figs may be soaked the same as prunes before steaming.
Stew together 1½ lb. prunes and 1 lb. of dried apricots, nosugar. Rub through colander and cook to the consistency of butter.
The best quality of aluminum is the ideal material for the preserving kettle; but granite, porcelain or earthenware may be used.
Thorough sterilization of the jars or cans is one of the most important parts of fruit canning. I always wash and sterilize mine when I empty them.
After washing the covers of Mason jars, bake them in a moderate oven for 2 or 3 hours; scrape them on the inside if necessary but do not wet them, and screw them on to the jars, which should have been well washed, scalded, wiped with a clean towel and thoroughly dried by standing right side up in a warm place.
The rubbers should be put on when the covers are, so that the jars will be all ready for use.
When old rubbers are in good condition they are just as good as new ones. Sometimes two thin ones may be used together.
There is a certain black rubber that should not be used with delicate flavored fruits as it injures their flavor. It does not improve the flavor of any fruit.
New rubbers should be washed and rubbed well in soapsuds and rinsed before using.
Keep the jars in a dry place and when you come to use them turn them over once in a pan of boiling water, scalding the covers the same.
Do not waste time, strength, jars or sugar on imperfect, decayed or unripe fruit. The probabilities are that it will not keep; and if it does the appearance and flavor will be inferior.
Put the fruit into the jarsboiling hotand seal immediately. Donot try to remove the froth or air bubbles (pure air will do no harm in cans, and it will be pure when the fruit is at boiling heat all around it and will remain so if the can is well sealed), because while you are trying to let the air out the fruit is cooling on top and the germs from the outside air are settling upon it.
If the fruit gets below the boiling point while filling the jars, return it to the fire and reheat it.Fill the jars to overflowing.Fasten the covers on perfectly tight, press the edges down all around into the rubber of Mason jars, if inclined to leak. Do not tighten the covers after the fruit is cold.
With Lightning jars it is sometimes necessary to slip little splinters of wood (bits of berry boxes) under the wires to make the covers tight enough.
When the covers are perfectly adjusted, invert the jars and leave them until cool. This not only shows whether any are leaking or not but fills any spaces there may be.
Keep canned fruit in a dark place. The light will cause it to lose its flavor as well as color. Wrap jars in paper if necessary.
The simplest way to fill jars is to set them in a row on a towel wrung out of cold water and folded so that it is thick. The jars must be cold also. Or, the towel may be wrung out of hot water and the jars rinsed in hot water before filling. In either case have the covers warm.
Bear in mind that “sugar, when largely used, is more injurious than meat.”
Some fruits, rich fine-flavored pears and peaches, whortleberries and others are excellent canned without sugar. They taste more like fresh fruit.
I always can whortleberries without water, so as to have them for pies. For sauce, water may be added after they are opened.
Gooseberries canned without water or sugar make delightful, fresh tasting pies in winter.
Never fail to secure black currants if possible for pies.
Always label fruit before putting it away, giving the year in which it was put up.
Canned fruits and vegetables should be opened two hours or more before serving, to give the fresh taste which comes with the restoration of oxygen.
There is much work at the best connected with fruit canning, so I have tried to simplify it as much as possible. The methods given here are those which I have used for years with good results.
Cherries, whortleberries, red and black currants and all berries that do not crush easily may be put into the kettle in layers with sugar (never more than ½ pt. of sugar to 2 qts. of fresh fruit and usually less), brought to the boiling point slowly and put into jars with very little trouble. The following is an average proportion of sugar and water to use with this class of berries:
Wash peaches, rubbing well, drain, pare as thin as possible and drop into cold water to keep them from turning dark. If the peaches are very ripe, put a few at a time into a wire basket and plunge into boiling water. Hold them there a moment, then quickly turn them into cold water; after which the skins will slip off easily.
This is a quicker method and does not waste the peaches, but I have thought they were more apt to turn dark.
For each rounded quart of peaches, make a syrup of ⅓–½ cup of sugar and 1–1½ cup of water, the water in which the peaches were standing. Bring the syrup to the boiling point, drop the peaches in (if in halves the cut side down), boil until thoroughly heated through, or until tender; drop the peaches into the jars, pour boiling syrup over, seal, following “Suggestions” carefully.
Finish the same as peaches.
The lemon juice gives character to the pears.
I once had some pears that were so flavorless it seemed hardly worth while to can them, but I tied ground anise seed in small pieces of cheese cloth and cooked with them, besides adding lemon juice, and they were excellent. Small pears and those with thin skins may be canned without paring. They are richer but the skins sometimes cause flatulence.
Do not can pears while they are hard.
It is a good plan to prick the plums on all sides with a fork before cooking.
Cook quinces in water until tender, remove with skimmer; cook apples in same water, remove apples, measure water, adding more if necessary; dissolve sugar in water, heat to boiling, add fruit, simmer a few minutes and put into jars.
Quinces are much improved by combining with sweet apples.When the apples are cooked with them, the quinces become more tender.
Quinces and citron and quinces and pears may also be combined.
Cook sugar, water and cranberries together, until the cranberries begin to crack; add the apples and cook all slowly until the apples are soft. Put into jars and seal.