Canned Plums
| Plums (large), | 1½ dozen |
| Sugar | |
| Water |
The large blue plums, the green-gage plums, or the large red plums, were all put up in the same manner.
Adelaide wiped each plum thoroughly with a damp cloth, cut it in halves with a silver knife, and removed the stone. Then she weighed them. To each pound of fruit Adelaide measured one cup of water and one cup of sugar. The plums and the water she placed in the saucepan over the fire and let them come slowly to the boiling point, while the sugar was heating at the back of the range in an earthenware dish.
Adelaide boiled the plums gently, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until they were tender or until you could pierce them with a silver fork easily. It usually took twenty minutes. The sugar was then ready to add to the fruit, and Adelaide stirred the mixture very carefully until it was all dissolved. As soon as the fruit boiled up Adelaide canned at once. She lifted each plum carefully with a silver fork into the sterilized pint jar, then poured in the juice till it overflowed. Inserting a silver knife between the fruit and the jar, Adelaide let the air bubbles come to the top and break. The new rubber, after being dipped in boiling water, was fitted on smoothly, then she sealed the jar quickly and stood it upside down out of the way of any draft.
In the morning, with a damp cloth she wiped off all stickiness from the outside of the jar, inspected it carefully to be sure that it did not leak, pasted on the label and stored the jar away in the preserve closet.