Spiced Gooseberries
| Gooseberries, | 1¾ lbs. |
| Sugar, | 1¼ lbs. |
| Vinegar, | ½ cup |
| Green ginger root, | a small piece |
| Whole cloves, | Six |
| Whole allspice, | Three |
| One bay leaf | |
| One blade of mace | |
| Stick cinnamon, | one small piece |
From the gooseberries Adelaide removed the tops, then washed them in the colander, which she placed in a pan of clear cold water and dipped up and down several times. While these drained, Adelaide measured the half cup of vinegar and one and one-fourth pounds of sugar into the saucepan. Placing the saucepan on the fire she brought the sugar and vinegar to the boiling point, added the gooseberries, then removed the saucepan from the fire.
The small piece of green ginger root she cut into small pieces, the six whole cloves, the three whole allspice, the bay leaf, the blade of mace, and the piece of stick cinnamon were tied in a small piece of muslin and added to the contents of the saucepan. Covering the saucepan, it was placed aside over night.
The next day Adelaide brought the fruit quickly to the boiling point and cooked the gooseberries gently until they were tender but not broken. When they were done, she carefully skimmed out the gooseberries and placed them into the sterilized pint jar, then filled it to overflowing with the syrup. Between the jar and the fruit Adelaide inserted a silver knife, to allow all air bubbles to rise to the top and break. The new rubber was placed on smoothly, and she sealed the jar quickly, standing it upside down out of the way of any draft.
In the morning the jar was carefully wiped with a damp cloth to remove all stickiness and examined for any possible leaks. Next Adelaide pasted on the label and stored the spiced gooseberries away in the preserve closet.
Spiced Pears
| Pears (medium), | Eight |
| Sugar, | 1 cup |
| Vinegar, | ½ cup |
| Water, | ½ cup |
| Cinnamon (stick), | small piece |
| Cloves (whole), | 1 teaspoon |
| Mixed spices (ground), | 1 teaspoon |
Mother said she found that when she put up "spiced pears" the year before that it took fifteen pears of medium size to fill a quart jar, so she told Adelaide to prepare eight pears. Adelaide washed, wiped, pared, quartered and removed the core from each pear.