The American Housewife Part 17

320. _To Preserve Apples._

Apples for preserving should be tart and mellow--pare them, and take out the cores with a small knife. Allow for each pound three-quarters of a pound of sugar, a tea-spoonful of powdered ginger, tied in a bag, and sufficient water to cover the apples. Make the syrup, then take it from the fire, and put in the apples, when it is just lukewarm. Boil them till transparent, take them up--when partly cooled, put in a little essence of lemon. Turn the syrup from them in the course of a week, boil it, and turn it back on the apples while hot.

321. _Cymbelines, or Mock Citron._

Cut into small pieces, and sc.r.a.pe the rind of cymbelines--put them into strong salt and water--let them remain in it three days, then in fair water a day, changing the water several times--soak them in alum water an hour--tie up oyster sh.e.l.ls in a cloth, and boil them with the cymbelines. When the cymbelines are tender, take them up, and put them back into the alum water. Make the syrup for them, allowing a pound and a half of sugar to one of the cymbelines. When clarified, let it get cold--then rinse the cymbelines, and boil them three-quarters of an hour. When partly cooled, put in a little essence of lemon to flavor them. These are good eaten like any other sweetmeats, or used instead of citron for cake.

322. _Watermelon Rinds._

Take the rind of a nice ripe watermelon--cut it into small strips, and boil them, till they begin to grow tender, in water, with saleratus and peach leaves in it, in the proportion of a tea-spoonful of saleratus and a dozen peach leaves to a couple of quarts of water. Take the rinds out of the water, and soak them in alum water an hour. Make a syrup, allowing the same weight of sugar as rinds. When clarified and cooled, rinse the rinds, and put them in the syrup, together with powdered ginger, tied up in a small bag. Boil them till they are quite soft--when partly cooled, add a little essence of lemon. Turn the syrup from them in the course of two or three days, take out the bags of ginger, and boil the syrup till there is just sufficient of it to cover the rinds, and turn it on them while hot.

323. _Muskmelons._

Procure muskmelons that are perfectly green, and of a quick growth, and as late in the season as possible. If preserved while the weather is very hot, they are apt to ferment. Sc.r.a.pe off the skin of the rind, being careful not to sc.r.a.pe any of the green part. Cut them through the middle, and take out the seeds--then cut them in rings, an inch in thickness. Soak them in salt and water a day, then in fair water three or four hours, changing the water several times. Soak them in alum water an hour--rinse and put them in fair water, with a handful of peach leaves to four or five pounds of the melon, and a table-spoonful of ginger, tied up in small pieces of cloth. The peach leaves turn the melon a fine green color. Boil the melons till they begin to grow tender, then put them in alum water, together with the ginger. Make a syrup of white sugar, and put in the melons and ginger, (which should be previously rinsed.) Boil them in the syrup as long as you can, without their breaking to pieces. In the course of a week turn the syrup from them, scald it, and turn it on to the melons. Add sufficient essence of lemon to flavor it, just before turning it on to the melons. Keep them covered tight, in a cool place, with a paper wet in brandy on them.

324. _Pine Apples._

Take those that are ripe, and perfectly fresh--pare off the rind, and cut the apples in slices an inch thick. Powder the same weight of white sugar as you have pine apples--lay the pine apples in a deep dish, and sprinkle part of the powdered sugar between each layer of apples.

Reserve about half of the sugar. Let the apples remain till the succeeding day--then turn the syrup from them, and mix it with the reserved sugar, and half a pint of water, for three or four pounds of pine apple. Boil the syrup, take it from the fire, and when cool, put in the apples, simmer them gently till tender, let them remain in a deep dish for several days--they should be covered up tight, and kept in a cool place. Whenever there is any appearance of fermentation, turn the syrup from them, scald it, and turn it back hot on to the pine apples.

Keep them in gla.s.s or china jars, covered tight, and in a cool place.

325. _Pumpkin Chips._

Take what quant.i.ty you choose of a good sweet pumpkin, (the b.u.t.ter pumpkin makes the nicest sweetmeats.) Halve the pumpkin, take out the seeds, and cut it into chips of the size of a dollar. For each pound of the pumpkin to be preserved, allow a pound of fine white sugar, and a gill of lemon-juice. Put the chips in a deep dish, and sprinkle on each layer a layer of the sugar. Turn the lemon-juice over the whole. Let it remain a day--then boil the whole together, with half a pint of water to three pounds of the pumpkin, a table-spoonful of powdered ginger, tied up in bags, and the peel of the lemons, cut into small pieces. When the pumpkin becomes tender, turn the whole into a preserve pot. In the course of a week, turn the syrup from the pumpkin, boil it to a rich syrup, and turn it back hot.

326. _Gages._

Allow equal weights of sugar and gages. Make a syrup of white sugar, and just water enough to cover the plums. Boil the plums slowly in the syrup ten minutes--turn them into a dish, and let them remain four or five days, then boil them again, till the syrup appears to have entered the plums. Put them in a china jar, and in the course of a week turn the syrup from them, scald it, and turn it over them hot.

327. _Strawberries._

Procure Chili or field strawberries, and hull them. Take equal quant.i.ties of berries, and powdered white sugar--put a layer of each in a preserving pan, having a layer of strawberries at the bottom. Let them remain an hour, then put in a gill of cold water, to prevent their burning to the bottom of the pan. Set them on a very moderate fire--when the juice runs freely, increase the fire, until they boil briskly. Let them boil half an hour, then turn them into a dish--when lukewarm, put them in wide-mouthed bottles, or small gla.s.s jars, cork and seal them tight, and keep them in dry sand.

328. _Raspberry and Blackberry Jam._

For each pound of berries, allow a pound of sugar. Put a layer of each alternately in a preserving dish. Let them remain half an hour--then boil them slowly, stirring them frequently, to keep them from burning.

When they have boiled half an hour, take a little up in a cup, and set it in a dish of cold water--if it appears of the consistency of thick jelly, take the whole from the fire--if not, boil it till it becomes so.

329. _Strawberry, Raspberry, and Blackberry Jelly._

Jellies of these fruits are all made in the following manner: Take the berries when ripe, and in their prime, mash them, and let them drain through a flannel bag, without squeezing it. To each pint of juice, put a pound of white sugar, and the beaten white of an egg to three pounds of the sugar. Set it on the fire--when it boils up well, take it from the fire, and skim it clear. Set it back on the fire--if any more sc.u.m rises, take it from the fire, and skim it off. Boil it till it becomes a jelly, which is ascertained by taking a little of it up into a tumbler of cold water. If it falls to the bottom in a solid ma.s.s, it is sufficiently boiled.

330. _Cranberry, Grape, and Currant Jelly._

They are all made in the same manner. Take the fruit in its prime, wash and drain it till nearly dry, then put it in an earthen jar, or pot, and set the pot in a kettle of hot water. Set the kettle where the water will boil, taking care that none of it gets into the jar. When the fruit breaks, turn it into a flannel bag, and let it drain slowly through, into a deep dish, without squeezing. When the juice has all pa.s.sed through the bag, put to each pint of it a pound and a half of white sugar. Put to each quart of the syrup the beaten white of an egg. Set the syrup where it will boil gently--as fast as any sc.u.m rises, take the syrup from the fire, and skim it clear. When the jelly has boiled fifteen or twenty minutes, try a little of it in a tumbler of cold water--if it sinks to the bottom of the tumbler in a solid lump, it is sufficiently boiled. Jellies are improved by being put in the sun for several days--care must be taken that the dew does not fall on them.

331. _Quince Jelly._

Halve the quinces, and take out the cores. Boil the quinces till very soft, in clear water, mash them, and let them drain through a flannel bag, without squeezing them. Put to the quince liquor, when drained through the bag, white sugar, in the proportion of a pound to a pint of the liquor. Add the whites of eggs, and clarify it. When clear, boil it on a moderate fire, till it becomes a thick jelly. Fill gla.s.ses with the jelly, and cover them tight. The quince pulp that remains in the jelly-bag can be made into marmalade.

332. _Apple Jelly._

Halve tart apples, and take out the cores. Boil them till very soft, in a large proportion of water--then let it pa.s.s through a jelly-bag, without squeezing them. Weigh the liquor, and to each pint of it put a pound of white sugar--then boil it slowly till it becomes a thick jelly, which is ascertained in the same manner as currant jelly. If you wish to have it of a red tinge, put in, when taken from the fire, a little cranberry or beet-juice. If you wish to have it a straw color, put in a little tincture of saffron. If green, use the expressed juice of spinach leaves. Let it pa.s.s through the jelly-bag again--when cool, turn it into gla.s.ses.

333. _Lemon Jelly._

Put on a slow fire an ounce of white isingla.s.s, pulled into small pieces, and rinsed, a pint of water, with the rind of six lemons. Stir it constantly till dissolved, then add a pint of lemon-juice, and sweeten it to the taste with nice white sugar. Boil the whole four or five minutes, then color it with tincture of saffron, and let it pa.s.s through a flannel bag, without squeezing it. Fill your jelly gla.s.ses with it when partly cooled.

334. _Calf's Feet Jelly._

Take four feet, (that have been perfectly cleaned,) and boil them, in four quarts of water, till very soft, and the water is reduced to one quart. Take it from the fire, and let it remain till perfectly cold, then take off all the fat, and sc.r.a.pe off the dregs that adhere to the jelly. Put the jelly in a preserving kettle, set it on a slow fire--when it melts, take it from the fire, and mix with it half a pint of white wine, the juice and grated rind of a couple of fresh lemons, and a stick of cinnamon or mace. Wash and wipe dry six eggs--take the whites of them, and beat them to a froth--stir them into the jelly when it is cool--bruise the sh.e.l.ls, and mix them with the jelly, then set it on a few coals. Sweeten it, when hot, to the taste--white sugar is the best, but brown answers very well. Let the whole boil slowly fifteen minutes, without stirring it--suspend a flannel bag on a nail, and let the jelly drain through it, into a deep dish or pitcher. If it is not clear the first time, let it pa.s.s through the bag till it becomes so. The bag should not be squeezed, otherwise the jelly will not look clear. When transparent, turn it into gla.s.ses, and set the gla.s.ses, if the weather is hot, into cold water, and keep them in a cool place. This kind of jelly will keep but a few days, in warm weather. A knuckle of veal, and sheep's feet, make a nice jelly, prepared in the same manner as calf's feet.

335. _Hartshorn Jelly._

Boil four ounces of hartshorn shavings in a couple of quarts of water, till it becomes a thick jelly--then strain and put to it the juice and rind of a couple of lemons, a wine gla.s.s of white wine, and a stick of cinnamon. Wash four fresh eggs, wipe them dry, separate the whites from the yelks, beat the whites to a froth, bruise the sh.e.l.ls, and mix them with the hartshorn--set the whole on a moderate fire--sweeten it to the taste when hot. Boil it till it becomes quite thick, then let it drain through a jelly-bag till clear.

336. _Coffee._

Old Java and Mocha coffee are the best kinds. Coffee should be put in an iron pot, and dried over a moderate fire for several hours, before it is roasted. It should be put at such a distance from the fire, as to be in no danger of burning. When it has dried three or four hours, set the pot on a hot bed of coals, and stir it constantly, until sufficiently roasted, which is ascertained by biting one of the lightest colored kernels--if it is brittle, the whole is done. Turn it out of the pot immediately, into a box--cover it tight, to keep in the steam. A coffee-roaster is better than a pot to roast coffee in, as it preserves the fine aromatic flavor of the coffee, which in a great measure escapes with the steam of the coffee, when roasted in an open pot. To make good common coffee, allow a table-spoonful of it, when ground, to each pint of water. Turn on the water boiling hot, and boil the coffee in a tin pot, from twenty to twenty-five minutes--if boiled longer, it will not taste fresh and lively. Let it stand, after being taken from the fire, four or five minutes to settle, then turn it off carefully from the grounds, into a coffee-pot or urn. When the coffee is put on the fire to boil, a piece of fish-skin or isingla.s.s, of the size of a nine-pence, should be put in, or else the white and sh.e.l.l of half an egg, to a couple of quarts of coffee. Many persons dislike to clear coffee with fish-skin, thinking that it imparts an unpleasant taste to coffee, but it will not, if properly prepared. The skin should be taken from mild codfish, that has not been soaked, as the skin loses its clearing properties by soaking. Rinse it in cold water, and dry it perfectly.

When dried, cut it into pieces of the size of a nine-pence. If torn off, as it is wanted for use, too much is apt to be put in at once, and give the coffee a bad taste. A piece of the size of a twelve and a half cent piece, is sufficient to settle a couple of quarts of water. French coffee is made in a German filter, the water is turned on boiling hot, and one-third more coffee is necessary than when boiled in the common way. Where cream cannot be procured for coffee, the coffee will be much richer to boil it with a less proportion of water than the above rule, and weaken it with boiling hot milk, when served out in cups.

337. _Tea._

Scald the tea-pot, and if the tea is a strong kind, a tea-spoonful for a pint of water is sufficient--if it is a weak kind, more will be required. Pour on just enough boiling water to cover the tea, and let it steep. Green tea should not steep more than five or six minutes before drinking--if steeped longer, it will not be lively. Black tea requires steeping ten or twelve minutes to extract the strength.

338. _Chocolate._

Sc.r.a.pe the chocolate off fine, mix it smooth with water--if liked very rich, make the chocolate entirely of milk--if not, use half water. Boil water and milk together, then stir in the chocolate, previously mixed with water--stir it till it boils, then sweeten it to your taste, and take it up. If liked rich, grate in a little nutmeg. A table-spoonful of chocolate to a pint of water or milk, is about the right proportion.

339. _Hop Beer._