Wine or brandy may be substituted for the rum; or, the jars may be packed solidly to the top, and sealed, without using any spirit. This fruit will keep well, and is so tender that it will melt in the mouth. It is, of course, very rich.
Sun Cooked Strawberries.
Pick over the berries and weigh them; then put them in the preserving kettle. Add to them as many pounds of granulated sugar as there are of strawberries. Do not have the fruit and sugar more than three or four inches deep in the preserving kettle. Place on the fire and heat slowly to the boiling point. Let the preserve cook for just ten minutes from the time it begins to boil, skimming well. Take up and pour into meat platters, having the preserve not much more than an inch and a half deep. Set the platters on tables at sunny windows. They should stand in the sun for twenty-four full hours. If the sun does not shine one day, let the fruit remain until it does. Put up cold in preserve jars. This preserve is perfect.
CANNING FRUITS.
The destruction of germs and the exclusion of air are the principles upon which canning is based. The article to be preserved is cooked for a short time, and then put in jars from which the air has been expelled by heating them to the boiling point. They are then sealed, and when cold are set in a cool, dark place. If all the conditions be right, the fruit will keep for an unlimited number of years, and when opened will be found to have nearly all the freshness and aroma of newly gathered fruit.
Now this is true of the majority of fruits, but not of all. The strawberry subjected to this process will come out a pale, spongy, insipid thing, whereas the raspberry seems to have its color, flavor, and odor intensified. If, however, a generous amount of sugar be added to the strawberry in the cooking, the fruit will retain its shape, color, and flavor. It is an error to attempt to can this berry without sugar, or with only a small amount.
Filling the Jars.
To fill the jars, have on the stove two pans partially filled with water. Let the water in one be boiling, but in the other not so hot that the hand cannot be held in it with comfort. Put a few jars and covers in the cooler water, turning them now and then until all parts become warm; then put them in the boiling water. This does away with all danger of breaking. When the jars have been heated in boiling water, drain, fill, and seal them one at a time.
In filling the jars be sure that they stand level, that the syrup has filled all the interstices between the fruit, and that it also runs over the top of the jars. Even with this overflowing of the syrup it will be found that, after cooling, the can is not quite full; but if the work has been properly done, the fruit will keep all right.