Hip Marmalade.—Gather hips, when perfectly ripe, wash them, and boil them in water, in the proportion of ½ pint water to 1 lb. fruit. When quite tender, pass them, water and all, through a sieve fine enough to keep back all the seeds. To each lb. pulp put 1 lb. refined sugar, and boil until your marmalade will jelly well. When a little cooled, pour it into jelly glasses or small jars, with a few small pieces of preserved ginger in each glass. Cover while hot.
Hips in Sugar.—For this, gather hips as soon as they have become red. Boil them gently until tender (but they must not be allowed to break) in sufficient water to cover them. Cut the stalks even, and a small piece from the blossom end of each berry, and with a pointed penknife or quill carefully remove all the seeds. Allow 1 lb. sugar and a little cinnamon to each lb. prepared hips. Put the sugar in a preserving pan, with just sufficient water to dissolve it—as little as possible, as the syrup should be very thick and clear. When the sugar is melted, put in the fruit, and boil gently until it is done and the syrup becomes thick; let it cool a little, and then put it carefully in glasses. It is important that the shape of the fruit should be preserved, and the largest berries obtainable should be used. A little lemon juice may be added to the above syrup if liked.
Hips in Vinegar.—Gather from the dog rose some of the largest berries you can obtain, as soon as they are quite red, but not over-ripe; cut the stalks even, leaving a short piece on each berry, wash and put them in a stewpan with as much boiling water as will cover them well. Boil gently until they are quite tender, but not at all broken. Drain the water from them, but do not throw it away. As soon as the hips are cold, cut a small piece from each at the blossom end, and with a pointed penknife or quill remove all the seeds, taking care not to break the fruit. For a syrup for 2 lb. berries allow 1 pint good vinegar, ½ pint of the liquid in which the fruit was boiled (which should be strained in muslin), 2 lb. loaf sugar, ¼ oz. cinnamon, and ¼ oz. cloves. Put all these in a preserving-pan, stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar is dissolved, let the syrup boil for 15 minutes, then put the hips in, and boil for 20 minutes, or until the syrup is rich and thick. Store, spice and all, in small jars or glasses, and cover like any other preserve. This will keep good for 2 years and more. It is a delicious substitute for red currant jelly with game or roast mutton, and is also good for colds in the throat or chest.
Lemon Marmalade.—Take any number of lemons; 6 make a nice quantity. Slice them very thin, only putting out the seeds. To each lb. sliced fruit add 3 pints cold water; let this stand 24 hours. Then boil it until the chips are tender, pour into an earthen bowl, and allow it to remain until the next day. Then weigh it, and to every lb. boiled fruit add 1½ lb. of lump sugar, boil the whole together until the syrup jellies and the chips are rather transparent; in taking out the pips be careful to leave all the white pith in, as that goes towards making syrup.
Lemon Peel, Candied.—Cut the lemons into quarters lengthwise, remove the juicy part, and throw the peels into strong salt and water, to soak in it for about 6 days. The brine should be strong enough to float an egg. At the end of the time take them from the salt and water, and throw them into cold water, where they should remain for 1 hour; remove them from this, and place them in a copper preserving-pan with as much fresh cold water as will cover them, and let them boil until quite soft. Try if they are done with a silver fork; if it will go in easily they have boiled long enough. Place them on a large hair sieve to drain the water from them, and during the time make a syrup in the proportion of 1 lb. loaf sugar to 1 qt. water; let them boil together until forming a thin syrup, in which boil the peels for about ½ hour, or until they look clear. Some more sugar must now be boiled with only just as much water as it will absorb; there must be enough of this made to just cover the peels when they are put into it. Again boil them, and continue boiling until the sugar begins to candy; they must then be taken out and again drained; before they are quite dry place them in large dishes, when a little very finely powdered sugar must be shaken over them. Set the dishes in a warm place for the peels to dry. They may then be stored away for use. While the boiling is going on the syrup will require constant stirring with a new wooden spoon to prevent burning.
Limes, Preserved.—(a) Take double the weight of crushed loaf sugar to the weight of limes. Boil the limes in water gently until the rinds are sufficiently tender to be easily penetrated with a silver fork; the water should be changed 2 or 3 times. When soft enough, drain the water from them, and cut them with a sharp knife into very thin slices, remove the pips, and put the slices of limes into a deep jar. Make a syrup, allowing 1 qt. water to every 5 lb. sugar, and let it boil gently until you can see the bottom of the preserving-pan, by which time it will be clear; stir frequently, using a silver spoon for the purpose. When ready, pour this syrup boiling hot over the limes, and let it remain for 2 days. On the third turn it all out into a preserving-pan, and let it boil for about ½ hour, or until it jellies. Then pour off into jars, and the following day, when quite cold, tie them down as you would any other preserve. Tangerine oranges would be done in the same way; but ¾ lb. sugar would be enough to 1 lb. fruit.
(b) Another way of preserving limes is to make them into pickle. For this make some incisions in the rinds of 12 limes, into which rub ¼ lb. common salt, lay them out in a deep dish and let them remain in the meat screen near the kitchen fire for 4-5 days or until soft. Boil enough vinegar to cover them, with ½ oz. whole pepper, 2 oz. bruised ginger, and the same of mustard-seed. Put the limes into jars when soft enough, also the salt, and pour the boiling vinegar over them; the limes should be quite covered with it. The next day cork the jars, and either brush melted rosin over the corks, or tie a piece of moistened bladder tightly over each.
Medlar Jelly.—Fill a large jar with ripe medlars, and place it in a saucepan of boiling water; it must be large enough to allow of the water coming up to the neck of the jar, but care must be taken not to let any of the water go into it. The jar must be uncovered. Put the lid on the saucepan, and keep the water boiling until the medlars are thoroughly cooked and quite soft. Then put them into a linen jelly-bag, and let them drip into a basin; the bag must not be squeezed or the jelly would not be clear. Medlars being a very dry fruit, a great many will be required to make even a small quantity of jelly; the juice comes from them but very slowly, so that this first process should be gone through the day before the jelly is to be made, and the straining should be allowed to go on during the night. Measure the juice, and allow 1 lb. loaf sugar to every pint. The sugar must be pounded and passed through a hair sieve to have it very fine; put it in a dish before the fire, or in the oven, until it is so hot that it would not remain any longer without melting. Boil the juice in a copper preserving-pan, stirring it with a silver spoon; when boiling add the sugar by little and little, a teaspoonful at a time; this should be shaken gently over the surface, the stirring continuing all the while. When the sugar is all in, take the preserving-pan off the fire, as no further boiling will be necessary. This jelly should be beautifully clear, and of about the same consistence as guava jelly, which it also somewhat resembles in flavour.
Melons, Preserved.—Medium-sized melons are better than very large ones for preserving, and they should not be over-ripe. Peel them, and press the juice from the pulp and seeds, which should be taken from the melons with a silver spoon: Wash the melons after this, and add the water in which they have been washed to the juice obtained from the pulp and seeds. The melons should be cut lengthwise into eight pieces, if possible using a silver knife; allow them to soak a day and night in cold water with a little salt and vinegar, in the proportion of 1 teaspoonful salt and 2 of white vinegar to ½ gal. water, throwing a clean cloth over during the time to keep out the dust. In the meanwhile prepare a syrup with the juice from the pulp and seeds, boiling 1 lb. good loaf sugar for 15 minutes to every ½ pint of the juice, and then letting it stand to become cold. After the pieces of melons have soaked for 24 hours—care being taken that they have been quite under the water all the time—place them in a preserving-pan and add the cold syrup as prepared; set it on the fire, and, after it comes to the boil, let it simmer for about ¼ hour, skimming it during the time; then remove the slices of melon into a bowl, taking care not to break them and pour the syrup over them. For 3 successive days pour off the syrup, give it a boil up and pour it over again; on the third day place the slices of melon in wide-mouthed bottles adding some bruised ginger to each; fill the bottles with the hot syrup, let them remain until cold, and then tie tightly down with bladder.
Mulberry Jam.—Take ripe mulberries and allow 1 lb. sugar and 1 pint mulberry juice to every lb. picked fruit; boil and skim the sugar with the juice for 5 minutes after the sugar is thoroughly dissolved; then add the fruit, and boil quickly for ½ hour, stirring well; take off the fire, and, if quite stiff when cold, it is done sufficiently, if not, boil for another ¼ hour.