Squeeze with your fingers the pulp from each grape. Put the pulps on the fire, and boil them until they are tender; then press them through a colander, so that the seeds may be taken out; now add the skins to the pulps and juice. Put a cupful of sugar to each cupful of fruit, and boil all together until of a thick consistency. Green-grape preserves are also nice. In managing the green grapes, halve them, and extract the seeds with a small knife. Put also a cupful of sugar to a cupful of fruit. Many prefer the green to the ripe grape preserves.
Apple Ginger.
Boil ginger-root, tied in a thin muslin bag, in clear water until the water is well flavored; make a sirup of this water and sugar, adding to it a little lemon-juice, and allowing three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of apples. When the sirup is skimmed clear, boil in it a few quarters of the apples at a time, until they become clear—no longer. Replace the apples in the sirup when it becomes cold. The golden pippins should be used. This preserve can be made without ginger.
Candied Fruits.
Boil peaches, plums, pears, apricots, cherries, or almost any fruit dressed, in a thick sirup made with a tea-cupful of water to each pound of sugar, until tender—no longer. Let them remain two days in the sirup; then take them out, drain them, and sprinkle sugar over each piece separately. Dry them slowly in the sun or in an oven not too warm.
MARMALADES.
To produce the best marmalades, choose ripe and luscious fruits. Cut them into pieces, and put them into the preserving-kettle with layers of sugar, placing fruit at the bottom.
For marmalades of peach, pear, green grape, pine-apple, quince, or plum, allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. If the fruit is not very juicy, add a little water. Be careful that the marmalade does not burn. When the whole begins to look clear, and becomes thick by cooling a portion of it on a plate, it is done, and may be put into jars at once.
Quince Marmalade.
Save the water in which the quinces for preserving were boiled; add to it the skins and cores, rejecting those which are worm-eaten or discolored. After boiling about half an hour, strain through a colander, allowing the pulp only to pass. To this juice add the reserved quince quarters and the sugar (three-fourths of a pound of sugar to one pound of fruit). Let all boil together slowly for about an hour and a half, stirring occasionally, and breaking the quinces into small pieces. When done, pour it into glasses or bowls. The marmalade will harden, and each mold will form a convenient little dish for lunch.