Spiced Blackberries
| Blackberries, | 2½ lbs. |
| Sugar, | 1 lb. |
| Vinegar, | ½ cup |
| Cinnamon (ground), | 1 teaspoon |
| Cloves (ground), | 1 teaspoon |
Adelaide put the pound of sugar, the half cup of vinegar, and the teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and cloves (the spices she tied in a piece of muslin) into the saucepan over the fire.
While the syrup was coming slowly to the boiling point Adelaide picked over and washed the blackberries by placing them in the colander, which she dipped up and down several times in a pan of clear cold water. After the blackberries had drained well and the syrup had come to the boiling point Adelaide added the blackberries. These she let boil gently for fifteen minutes, when she skimmed out the blackberries and dropped them carefully into the sterilized pint jar. Next she filled the jar to overflowing with the syrup, inserted a silver knife between the fruit and the jar to let all air bubbles rise to the top and break, 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 Adelaide inspected the jar carefully to see that it did not leak, wiped off all stickiness from the outside with a damp cloth, pasted on the label and stored the jar away in the preserve closet.
"Perhaps," said mother, "you may like to try other fruits another year, preserved in vinegar and sugar with spices, but I think for the present the ones I have given you will do."
"Yes, I think so too," replied Adelaide.