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Preserving and Canning Fruit and Vegetables: Jelly

Quince Jelly.-Rub the quinces with a coarse crash towel. Cut out the blossom end, rinse and drain.

Wash and pare the fruit, quarter and cut out the cores, and keep them by themselves. Drop the best pices of fruit into a bowl half full of water containing lemon juice, to be preserved or canned. Run the parings and imperfect parts through a meat chopper or chop finely. Add a quart of water to every 2 quarts of chopped fruits and parings and cook gently for two hours. Strain and proceed as for apple jelly. Put the cores into another kettle, cover with plenty of water and cook two hours. Now, to make a second grade of jelly, add the chopped parings and fruit from which the juice has been extracted, mix and strain. Return the clear juice to the preserving kettle, stir in a pint of sugar for each pint of juice and boil ten min utes.

Covering Jelly. -Cut out so e discs of any thick white paper, preferably paraffin or butter paper, the size of the top of the jelly glass.

A simple way to make a pattern of the exact size is by means of a small compass or pair of dividers. When the jelly is hard and firm, brush over the top with brandy or alcohol to kill any spores of mold that may be present. Dip a disc of paper in the spirits and let it rest on the jelly. Now put on the covers.

Or tie a disc of cotton batting over the top of the glass.

Or cut discs of paper about half an inch in diameter larger than the top of the glass, wet them in a mixture of the white of an egg beaten together with a tablespoonful of cold water and press down the sides until they stick.

Or cut covers about an inch in diameter larger than the top of the glass, dip in olive oil and tie on the glass with string.

Or pour melted paraffin in the top of the glass over a piece of paper dipped in brandy or alcohol. Set the paraffin in a cup surrounded by warm water and heat gently until melted. Make a layer at least onefourth of an inch thick. - Fruit Juices. canned or bottled with or without These may be sugar as desired. Use preferably self-sealing bottles such as pop or beer bottles with care to sterilize both bottles and corks.

For grape juice wash the grapes, pick them over and remove the stems and all defective specimens. To express the juice crush slightly in the preserving kettle, heat slowly and boil gently for half an hour. Crush the fruit and express the juice as for jelly making, except that all the juice may be preserved together.

Bring the strained juice to a boil in a clean preserving kettle, remove and skim. Do this a second time. Then stir in the sugar until dissolved, boil five minutes, skim and put into hot sterilized bottles or jars. Set these in pans of boiling water in a moderate oven for ten minutes. Now fill up with boiling juice, seal and place on boards to cool protected from drafts. For grapes use about 1 gill of sugar to a quart of juice.

For raspberries, blackberries and strawberries, use pint of sugar to each quart of juice and for currants CANNING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES a full pint, otherwise proceed as for grape juice.

For cherry, plum and peach juices add pint of sugar to each quart of juice.

Fruit Sirups.-Proceed in all respects as for fruit juices, but use at least one-half as much sugar as fruit juice. Use fruit sirups to flavor ice creams and water ices, also for beverages at the rate of two or three spoonfuls to the glass of ice water.

Preserving Powders. -Avoid all socalled "preserving powders" whether advertised under various trade names or put up and sold by druggists or peddlers. Any antiseptics that will prevent the decay of fruits and vegetables are injurious to health regardless of all claims by interested persons to the contrary.

Nothing of the sort is necessary if sound ripe fruit is selected and sterilized by means of heat in the proper manner. And since the necessary care to do good work adds little or nothing to the cost of preserving fruits and vegetables, the so-called "preserving powders" serve no useful purpose. On the contrary they tend to encourage unclean and slovenly work and to conceal the effects of using decaying fruits and vegetables.

CANNING VEGETABLES Some vegetables are more difficult to preserve properly than fruits and fruit juices, since they contain a considerable proportion of the element nitrogen, the presence of which makes any substance a good culture medium for the bacteria, spores and molds which cause decomposition.

Moreover, the addition of sugar to fruits and fruit juices helps to produce a condition which is unfavorable to the growth of these injurious organisms. But the addition of sugar to most vegetables would not be desirable. Hence, a considerably longer and more heroic treatment for canning vegetables is required.

The process, however, is simple and is so similar to the ordinary methods of canning fruit that it can be readily carried out by any housekeeper if the following suggestions are observed:

The secret of canning vegetables lies in the fact that whereas bacteria may be readily killed at the temperature of boiling water, the spores or seeds of certain kinds may retain their vitality unless they are kept at the temperature of boiling water for a long time-about five hours-or preferably boiled for about one hour upon two or three successive days.

The latter is the method employed by scientific men and is the one here recommended. The first day's boiling kills all the molds and most of the bacteria but does not kill their spores or seeds. These start to grow as soon as the contents of the jar is cool. The second boiling kills the crop of bacteria thus formed before they have time to develop spores.

The third boiling is not always necessary, but is advised to make assurance doubly sure. This process is called by scientists "fractional sterilization." It is the whole secret of canning meat, fruits or vegetables and anyone who will bear it in mind may be sure of satisfactory results.

Observe, however, that the air must be excluded at all times after the first boiling. Otherwise a new crop of bacteria, spores and molds will be deposited from the air and the work of sterilization will be undone. Cooking for three short periods in a closed container at a comparatively low temperature instead of cooking for one short period at a high temperature, or for one long period in an open vessel makes the vital difference and insures a freshness of flavor and color such that the difference between the product and the fresh vegetables can hardly be detected. After the jars have been sterilized and tested keep them in the dark, or wrap them closely in dark colored paper, as sunlight will soon destroy the color.

Canning Corn. - All housewies will be glad to know that corn is one of the easiest vegetables to can if proper precautions are observed.