Take large, firm lemons, not quite ripe, cut in slices one-quarter inch thick, and take out the seed. Soak in brine a week. Then soak several days in clear water, changing the water twice a day. When all the salt and the bitter taste are extracted, weigh the lemons and boil till tender enough to pierce with a straw. Make a thin syrup, allowing one pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Put the lemons in and let them simmer slowly a good many hours. Pour into a large bowl and let it remain there several days. At the end of that time strain the syrup (which will have become thin), put the lemons in it again, and boil till they jelly. When cool put in a glass jar with a screw top. The same recipe may be used for oranges.—Mrs. S. T.
Lemon Marmalade.
Every housekeeper should keep a large jar, or other nice vessel, filled with brine, in which she may throw lemon peels after being deprived of the grated rind and juice, used for creams, jellies, etc. These may remain any length of time, to suit one's convenience. Before preserving, soak in pure water till all the taste of salt is extracted. Boil till soft enough to pierce with a straw. Then put in a preserving kettle nine pounds cut sugar and one quart water. As soon as it boils, add six pounds lemon peel and three pounds nice sliced apples (pippins are best). Boil till very thick.—Mrs. S. T.
Lemon Preserves
May be made of lemon peel, prepared exactly by the above recipe. Put the peel in a preserving kettle and keep covered, while boiling in clear water, till you can run a straw through it. Then throw it into a rich syrup (one pound sugar to one of lemon peel), and boil a long time. Put in a bowl till the next day; then take the syrup (which will be somewhat thin) and boil again till very thick. Pour it over the lemon, and when cold it will be jellied.—Mrs. S. T.
Peach Preserves.
Pare white freestone peaches, not quite ripe. Split in half, take out the stones, and throw the peaches in a bucket of water to prevent them from turning dark. Make a syrup of white sugar, using as many pounds of sugar as you have pounds of peaches. When it has boiled thick, put in as many peaches as will cover the bottom of the kettle. Let them boil till nearly done; then take them out, one by one, in a perforated spoon. Lay them in dishes and set in the sun. When all the peaches have been carried through this process, put back the first dish of peaches in the kettle, taking them out when a pretty amber color, and so on till all have been boiled twice. Meantime the peach-kernels should have been scalded and skinned. Put them in the boiling syrup, which must be kept on the fire till very thick. Put the peaches when cool in glass jars, and pour the syrup over them. In a few days examine, and if the syrup has become thin, boil again.—Mrs. S. T.
Peach Preserves.
Pare, and add to a pound of peaches one and one-quarter pounds best sugar. Cook very fast for a few moments, in a porcelain kettle. Turn out in a bowl, cover with muslin or cambric, set in the sun, stirring every day till they seem quite transparent. They retain their flavor much better this way than when cooked on the fire. Put in jars, cover with paper saturated with brandy, and tie up tightly to exclude the air.—Mrs. P. W.
Peach Marmalade.