CHAPTER VI

SPICED FRUITS

"WHEN you were a tiny little baby," said mother, "I had a young girl living with me who taught me how to put up Spiced Currants. She had lived in the country, and her favorite aunt was renowned for her tempting preserves."

"Oh, mother," interrupted Adelaide, "do you think I could ever become renowned, or whatever you called it?"

"I think there is no reason why you shouldn't, if you continue to do as good work in the future as you have thus far. Every year you will become more expert, and find out many new combinations that especially suit your taste and appeal to others," answered mother. "All spiced fruits," she continued, "are particularly tasty when served with cold meats."

Spiced Currants

Currants, 1 quart Sugar, 1 lb. Vinegar, 1/2 cup Cloves (ground), 1 teaspoon Cinnamon (ground), 1 teaspoon

Adelaide picked over the currants and removed the stems. Putting the currants into the colander, she dipped it up and down several times in a pan of clear cold water, then set it aside to drain. Into the saucepan she poured the currants, added one pound of sugar, a half a cup of vinegar, and a teaspoon each of cloves and cinnamon.

Placing the saucepan over the fire, she let the currants heat through gradually, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, and when thoroughly scalded she lifted out the currants with a skimmer.

Adelaide boiled the juice until it thickened, then added the currants again and let them just boil up. They were then ready to put into the sterilized pint jar, so Adelaide filled it to overflowing. Next she inserted a silver knife between the jar and the fruit, to let all air bubbles rise to the top and break, placed a new rubber on the jar smoothly, sealed quickly and stood upside down out of the way of any draft.

In the morning the jar was examined carefully to be sure it did not leak, all stickiness was wiped off with a damp cloth from the outside, then the label was pasted on and Adelaide stored the jar away in the preserve closet.

Spiced Cherries

Cherries, 2 lbs. Sugar, 1 lb. Vinegar, 1/2 cup Stick cinnamon, 1/3 ounce Whole cloves, 1/3 ounce

Adelaide stemmed the cherries and washed them in the colander by dipping it up and down several times in a pan of clear cold water, after which she stoned them. Into a saucepan she measured one-half a cup of vinegar. To this she added a third of an ounce each of whole cloves and cinnamon tied up in a muslin bag. The vinegar and spices Adelaide let boil gently for fifteen minutes, then she added one pound of sugar and boiled the mixture ten minutes longer, stirring constantly with the wooden spoon and skimming well. At the end of the ten minutes Adelaide dropped in the cherries and cooked the fruit gently for one-half hour. Lifting out the cherries with a skimmer, she put them into the sterilized pint jar, added the juice to overflowing, and inserted a silver knife between the jar and the fruit to let all air bubbles rise to the top and break. Then she placed on a new rubber and sealed quickly, standing the jar upside down out of the way of any draft.

The next morning, after carefully inspecting the jar for any possible leaks, Adelaide wiped off all stickiness from the outside with a damp cloth, pasted on the label and stored the jar away in the preserve closet.

Spiced Gooseberries

Gooseberries, 1-3/4 lbs. Sugar, 1-1/4 lbs. Vinegar, 1/2 cup Green ginger root, a small piece Whole cloves, Six Whole allspice, Three One bay leaf One blade of mace Stick cinnamon, one small piece

From the gooseberries Adelaide removed the tops, then washed them in the colander, which she placed in a pan of clear cold water and dipped up and down several times. While these drained, Adelaide measured the half cup of vinegar and one and one-fourth pounds of sugar into the saucepan. Placing the saucepan on the fire she brought the sugar and vinegar to the boiling point, added the gooseberries, then removed the saucepan from the fire.

The small piece of green ginger root she cut into small pieces, the six whole cloves, the three whole allspice, the bay leaf, the blade of mace, and the piece of stick cinnamon were tied in a small piece of muslin and added to the contents of the saucepan. Covering the saucepan, it was placed aside over night.

The next day Adelaide brought the fruit quickly to the boiling point and cooked the gooseberries gently until they were tender but not broken. When they were done, she carefully skimmed out the gooseberries and placed them into the sterilized pint jar, then filled it to overflowing with the syrup. Between the jar and the fruit Adelaide inserted a silver knife, to allow all air bubbles to rise to the top and break. The new rubber was placed on smoothly, and she sealed the jar quickly, standing it upside down out of the way of any draft.

In the morning the jar was carefully wiped with a damp cloth to remove all stickiness and examined for any possible leaks. Next Adelaide pasted on the label and stored the spiced gooseberries away in the preserve closet.

Spiced Pears

Pears (medium), Eight Sugar, 1 cup Vinegar, 1/2 cup Water, 1/2 cup Cinnamon (stick), small piece Cloves (whole), 1 teaspoon Mixed spices (ground), 1 teaspoon

Mother said she found that when she put up "spiced pears" the year before that it took fifteen pears of medium size to fill a quart jar, so she told Adelaide to prepare eight pears. Adelaide washed, wiped, pared, quartered and removed the core from each pear.

The cup of sugar, half cup each of water and vinegar, cinnamon stick and whole cloves were put into the saucepan and placed over the fire, then the teaspoon of mixed ground spices was also added; the latter were tied in a small piece of muslin.

These Adelaide let boil for five minutes, after which she skimmed the syrup and added the pears. It was necessary to boil the pears very gently for thirty-five minutes, stirring them frequently with the wooden spoon, but carefully so as not to break the fruit. When they were done Adelaide lifted the pears out carefully with a silver fork into the sterilized pint jar, and poured in the syrup to overflowing.

With a silver knife, which she inserted between the fruit and jar, she let all air bubbles rise to the top and break, then fitted on a new rubber smoothly, sealed the jar quickly and stood it upside down out of the way of any draft. In the morning, after examining the jar carefully to see that it did not leak, Adelaide wiped off all stickiness with a damp cloth, pasted on the label and stored the jar away in the preserve closet.

Spiced Peaches

Peaches (medium), 1 dozen Sugar (brown), 1 lb. Vinegar, 1 cup Cloves (whole) Cloves (ground), 1 teaspoon Cinnamon (ground), 1 teaspoon Allspice (ground), 1/2 teaspoon

Adelaide put the pound of brown sugar and the cup of vinegar into the saucepan and added the ground spices (clove, cinnamon, and allspice) tied up in a small piece of muslin. The saucepan she placed over the fire and let the contents boil gently for ten minutes.

While the syrup was boiling, Adelaide poured boiling water over the peaches, and after they had stood a minute she peeled them with a silver knife. Adelaide left the peaches whole, and stuck four or five cloves in each peach.

As soon as the syrup had cooked sufficiently she dropped the peaches in it and cooked them until they could be pierced easily with a silver fork.

The twelve peaches were enough to fill two pint jars. Adelaide lifted the peaches out carefully with the silver fork and placed them in the sterilized jars. Then she filled the jars to overflowing with the syrup. With a silver knife, which she inserted between the fruit and the jar, Adelaide let all air bubbles rise to the top and break. Next, new rubbers were fitted on smoothly and the jars sealed quickly, after which she stood them upside down out of the way of any draft. In the morning the stickiness was wiped from each jar with a damp cloth, they were carefully inspected to be sure there were no leaks, then Adelaide pasted on the labels and stored the jars away in the preserve closet.

Spiced Watermelon Rind

Watermelon rind, 2-1/3 lbs. Sugar (brown), 1 lb. Vinegar, 1 cup Cinnamon (ground), 1/2 teaspoon Cloves (ground), 1/3 teaspoon Allspice (ground), 1/2 teaspoon Ginger root, small piece Whole mace, 1 teaspoon Bay leaves, Two

One day when watermelons were in their prime Adelaide's mother bought a part of one for dessert. She told Adelaide to save all the rind and the next day she would show her how to make another tasty relish to be eaten with cold meats.

In the morning Adelaide pared the rind neatly and cut it into many attractive shapes. The saucepan had been previously placed over the fire, containing the pound of sugar, the cup of vinegar, the piece of ginger root, the whole mace and the bay leaves. The ground spices, one-half teaspoon each of cinnamon and allspice, and the one-third teaspoon of cloves, were tied in a small piece of muslin and added to the syrup. When the syrup reached the boiling point Adelaide dropped in the watermelon rind, and it was cooked slowly until perfectly tender. Then Adelaide lifted out the rind very carefully with a silver fork into a dish, covered, and stood it away over night. The saucepan was removed from the fire and placed aside to cool. Next morning, Adelaide let the syrup again come to the boiling point, and added the rind. She watched carefully, and when it came to the boiling point a second time she lifted the rind carefully with a silver fork into the sterilized jar. The syrup she poured in until it overflowed.

Inserting a silver knife between the jar and the rind Adelaide let all air bubbles rise to the top and break, then fitted the new rubber on smoothly, sealed quickly and stood the jar upside down out of the way of any draft.

In the morning Adelaide wiped off all stickiness from the outside of the jar, examined it carefully to be sure it did not leak, pasted on the label and stored it away in the preserve closet.

Spiced Grapes

Grapes, 1-3/4 lbs. Sugar, 1 lb. Vinegar, 1/4 cup Cinnamon (ground), 1 teaspoon Cloves (ground), 1 teaspoon

Adelaide picked over and washed the grapes by placing them in the colander and dipping it up and down several times in a pan of clear cold water. After draining thoroughly she removed the skins and placed them in a dish which she stood aside. The pulps were put into the saucepan and cooked slowly until the seeds could be removed by pressing the grapes through a strainer.

The strained pulp, the skins, the pound of sugar, the fourth of a cup of vinegar, and the teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and cloves (the spices were tied in a piece of muslin) were all put in the saucepan together and cooked until thick. Adelaide then filled the sterilized jar with the fruit, inserted a silver knife between the grapes and the jar to let the air bubbles rise to the top and break, fitted on a new rubber smoothly, sealed the jar quickly and stood it upside down out of the way of any draft. In the morning she inspected the jar carefully to be sure that it did not leak, wiped off all stickiness with a damp cloth, pasted on the label and stored the jar away in the preserve closet.

Spiced Blackberries

Blackberries, 2-1/2 lbs. Sugar, 1 lb. Vinegar, 1/2 cup Cinnamon (ground), 1 teaspoon Cloves (ground), 1 teaspoon

Adelaide put the pound of sugar, the half cup of vinegar, and the teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and cloves (the spices she tied in a piece of muslin) into the saucepan over the fire.

While the syrup was coming slowly to the boiling point Adelaide picked over and washed the blackberries by placing them in the colander, which she dipped up and down several times in a pan of clear cold water. After the blackberries had drained well and the syrup had come to the boiling point Adelaide added the blackberries. These she let boil gently for fifteen minutes, when she skimmed out the blackberries and dropped them carefully into the sterilized pint jar. Next she filled the jar to overflowing with the syrup, inserted a silver knife between the fruit and the jar to let all air bubbles rise to the top and break, fitted on a new rubber smoothly, sealed the jar quickly, and stood it upside down out of the way of any draft.

In the morning Adelaide inspected the jar carefully to see that it did not leak, wiped off all stickiness from the outside with a damp cloth, pasted on the label and stored the jar away in the preserve closet.

"Perhaps," said mother, "you may like to try other fruits another year, preserved in vinegar and sugar with spices, but I think for the present the ones I have given you will do."

"Yes, I think so too," replied Adelaide.