COOKED MUSKMELON.
Miss Corson, in one of her lectures, gives the following directions for making a very nice dessert from muskmelons:—Make a rich syrup from a pound of white sugar to half a pint of water. Pare and slice the melon and boil it gently in the syrup five to ten minutes flavoring with vanilla or lemon. Then take it up in the dish in which it is to be served, cool the syrup and pour it on the melon. To be eaten cold.
MELON MANGOES. (See [Mangoes].)
MUSKMELON PICKLE.
Use ripe muskmelons, pare, remove seeds, and cut in pieces and put into a stone jar. Cover with scalded vinegar and let them stand until the next day, when the vinegar must be reheated and poured over them again; repeat this until the fourth day, then weigh the melons and to every five pounds of the fruit allow three pounds of sugar and one quart of vinegar with spices to suit. Let all simmer together until the fruit is tender. The second day pour off this syrup, and boil down until it shall only just cover the melons. The result justifies the pains taken.
MELON, WATER.
The following is said to be an infallible sign of a ripe watermelon, it takes close inspection to find sometimes, but the sign is there if the condition for it exists. When the flesh of the melon changes color and its seeds begin to turn black a small scale or blister appears on the rind. They increase in number and size as the melon ripens, until a ripe one shows them thickly strewn over the surface. A small crop of blisters indicates unripe fruit. A melon must be served ice cold. Cut it through the middle, scoop out the flesh with a tablespoon in a circle as much as possible that the pieces may be conical or egg shaped. Cover the platter with grape leaves and pile the fruit upon them, allowing the tendrils of the grapes to wander in and out among the melon cones.
WATERMELON ICE.
Cut a watermelon in halves, scoop out the entire center, taking out the seeds; chop in tray; add a cup of sugar. Pack the freezer, turn a few minutes. It will be like soft snow and delicious.