The cup of sugar, half cup each of water and vinegar, cinnamon stick and whole cloves were put into the saucepan and placed over the fire, then the teaspoon of mixed ground spices was also added; the latter were tied in a small piece of muslin.
These Adelaide let boil for five minutes, after which she skimmed the syrup and added the pears. It was necessary to boil the pears very gently for thirty-five minutes, stirring them frequently with the wooden spoon, but carefully so as not to break the fruit. When they were done Adelaide lifted the pears out carefully with a silver fork into the sterilized pint jar, and poured in the syrup to overflowing.
With a silver knife, which she inserted between the fruit and jar, she let all air bubbles rise to the top and break, then fitted on a new rubber smoothly, sealed the jar quickly and stood it upside down out of the way of any draft. In the morning, after examining the jar carefully to see that it did not leak, Adelaide wiped off all stickiness with a damp cloth, pasted on the label and stored the jar away in the preserve closet.
Spiced Peaches
| Peaches (medium), | 1 dozen |
| Sugar (brown), | 1 lb. |
| Vinegar, | 1 cup |
| Cloves (whole) | |
| Cloves (ground), | 1 teaspoon |
| Cinnamon (ground), | 1 teaspoon |
| Allspice (ground), | ½ teaspoon |
Adelaide put the pound of brown sugar and the cup of vinegar into the saucepan and added the ground spices (clove, cinnamon, and allspice) tied up in a small piece of muslin. The saucepan she placed over the fire and let the contents boil gently for ten minutes.
While the syrup was boiling, Adelaide poured boiling water over the peaches, and after they had stood a minute she peeled them with a silver knife. Adelaide left the peaches whole, and stuck four or five cloves in each peach.
As soon as the syrup had cooked sufficiently she dropped the peaches in it and cooked them until they could be pierced easily with a silver fork.
The twelve peaches were enough to fill two pint jars. Adelaide lifted the peaches out carefully with the silver fork and placed them in the sterilized jars. Then she filled the jars to overflowing with the syrup. With a silver knife, which she inserted between the fruit and the jar, Adelaide let all air bubbles rise to the top and break. Next, new rubbers were fitted on smoothly and the jars sealed quickly, after which she stood them upside down out of the way of any draft. In the morning the stickiness was wiped from each jar with a damp cloth, they were carefully inspected to be sure there were no leaks, then Adelaide pasted on the labels and stored the jars away in the preserve closet.