Note.—These chips may be kept for years in tin boxes, if packed quite dry, with layers of paper between the rows.
GOOSEBERRY FOOL.
Ingredients.—Green gooseberries; to every pint of pulp add 1 pint of milk, or ½ pint of cream and ½ pint of milk; sugar to taste. Mode.—Cut the tops and tails off the gooseberries, put them into a jar with 2 tablespoonfuls of water and a little good moist sugar; set this jar in a saucepan of boiling water, and let it boil until the fruit is soft enough to mash. When done enough, beat it to a pulp, work this pulp through a colander, and stir to every pint the above proportion of milk, or equal quantities of milk and cream. Ascertain if the mixture is sweet enough, and put in plenty of sugar, or it will not be eatable; and in mixing the milk and gooseberries add the former very gradually to these: serve in a glass dish, or in small glasses. This, although a very old-fashioned and homely dish, is, when well made, very delicious, and, if properly sweetened, a very suitable preparation for children. Time.—From ¾ to 1 hour. Average cost, 6d. per pint, with milk. Sufficient.—A pint of milk and a pint of gooseberry pulp for 5 or 6 children. Seasonable in May and June.
GOOSEBERRY JAM.
Ingredients.—To every lb. of fruit allow ¾ lb. of loaf sugar; currant-juice. Mode.—Select red hairy gooseberries; have them gathered in dry weather, when quite ripe, without being too soft. Weigh them; with a pair of scissors cut off the tops and tails, and to every 6 lbs. of fruit have ready ½ pint of red-currant juice, drawn as for jelly. Put the gooseberries and currant-juice into a preserving-pan, let them boil tolerably quickly, keeping them well stirred; when they begin to break, add to them the sugar, and keep simmering until the jam becomes firm, carefully skimming and stirring it, that it does not burn at the bottom. It should be boiled rather a long time, or it will not keep. Put it into pots (not too large), let it get perfectly cold, then cover the pots down with oiled and egged papers. Time.—About 1 hour to boil the gooseberries in the currant-juice, from ½ to ¾ hour with the sugar. Average cost, per lb. pot, from 6d. to 8d. Sufficient.—Allow 1½ pint of fruit for a lb. pot. Seasonable.—Make this in June or July.
GOOSEBERRY JAM.
Ingredients.—To every 8 lbs. of red, rough, ripe gooseberries allow 1 quart of red-currant juice, 5 lbs. of loaf sugar. Mode.—Have the fruit gathered in dry weather, and cut off the tops and tails. Prepare 1 quart of red-currant juice, the same as for red-currant jelly; put it into a preserving-pan with the sugar, and keep stirring until the latter is dissolved. Keep it boiling for about 5 minutes; skim well; then put in the gooseberries, and let them boil from ½ to ¾ hour; then turn the whole into an earthen pan, and let it remain for 2 days. Boil the jam up again until it looks clear; put it into pots, and when cold, cover with oiled paper, and over the jars put tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg, and store away in a dry place. Care must be taken, in making this, to keep the jam well stirred and well skimmed, to prevent it burning at the bottom of the pan, and to have it very clear. Time.—5 minutes to boil the currant-juice and sugar after the latter is dissolved; from ½ to ¾ hour to simmer the gooseberries the first time, ¼ hour the second time of boiling. Average cost, from 8d. to 10d. per lb. pot. Sufficient.—Allow 1½ pint of fruit for a lb. pot. Seasonable.—Make this in June or July.
GOOSEBERRY JAM, White or Green.
Ingredients.—Equal weight of fruit and sugar. Mode.—Select the gooseberries not very ripe, either white or green, and top and tail them. Boil the sugar with water (allowing ½ pint to every lb.) for about ¼ hour, carefully removing the scum as it rises; then put in the gooseberries, and simmer gently till clear and firm: try a little of the jam on a plate; if it jellies when cold, it is done, and should then be poured into pots. When cold, cover with oiled paper, and tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the unbeaten white of an egg, and stow away in a dry place. Time.—¼ hour to boil the sugar and water, ¾ hour the jam. Average cost, from 6d. to 8d. per lb. pot. Sufficient.—Allow 1½ pint of fruit for a lb. pot. Seasonable.—Make this in June.