When giving the citron its first boiling, in the lemon-peel and water, you may add, to every four pounds of citron, half an ounce of root-ginger, (if green and tender, it will be better,) or else a few pieces of preserved ginger.
To increase the lemon-flavour, rub off, upon some lumps of sugar, (before you make the syrup,) the yellow rind of two or three other lemons.
PRESERVED CITRON-MELONS.—Take some fine citron-melons; pare, core, and cut them into slices. Then weigh them; and, to every six pounds of melon, allow six pounds of the best double-refined loaf-sugar; and the juice and yellow rind (pared off very thin) of four large, fresh lemons; also, half a pound of race-ginger.
Put the slices of melon into a preserving-kettle, and boil them half an hour, or more, till they look quite clear, and are so tender that a broom-twig will pierce through them. Then drain them; lay them in a broad pan of cold water; cover them; and let them stand all night. In the morning, tie the race-ginger in a thin muslin cloth, and boil it in three pints of clear spring or pump-water, till the water is highly flavoured. Then take out the bag of ginger. Having broken up the sugar, put it into a clean preserving-kettle, and pour the ginger-water over it. When the sugar is all melted, set it over the fire; put in the yellow peel of the lemons; and boil and skim it till no more scum rises. Then remove the lemon-peel; put in the sliced citrons, and the juice of the lemons; and boil them in the syrup till all the slices are quite transparent, and so soft that a straw will go through them; but do not allow them to break. When quite done, put the slices (while still warm) into wide-mouthed glass or white-ware jars; and gently pour on the syrup. Lay inside of each jar, upon the top of the syrup, a double white tissue-paper, cut exactly to fit the surface. Put on the lids of the jars, and paste thick paper over them.
This will be found a delicious sweetmeat; equal to any imported from the West Indies, and far less expensive. We recommend it highly. Citron-melons are brought to Philadelphia market in the month of August.
AN EASY WAY OF PRESERVING PINE-APPLES.—Take pine-apples, as ripe as you can possibly get them; pare them, and cut them into thin, circular slices. Weigh them, and to each pound of pine-apple allow a pound of the best double-refined loaf-sugar. Place a layer of the pine-apple slices in the bottom of a large, deep dish, or white-ware pan, and sprinkle it thickly with a layer of the sugar, which must first be powdered. Then put another layer of the pine-apple, and sugar it well; and so on, till the dish is full; finishing with a layer of sugar on the top. Cover the dish, and let it stand all night. In the morning remove the slices of pine-apple to a tureen. Pour the syrup into a porcelain preserving-kettle, and boil and skim it at least half an hour. Do not remove it from the fire, till the scum has entirely ceased to rise. Then pour the syrup, boiling hot, over the slices of pine-apple in the tureen. Cover it, and let it stand till cold. Then transfer the sliced pine-apple and the syrup to wide-mouthed glass jars, or to large tumblers. Cover them well, pasting down thick white paper over the top.