Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 263, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 November 1912 — JUDGED BY PRESERVES [ARTICLE]

JUDGED BY PRESERVES

MARK OF CAREFUL AND INTELUOENT*HOUBEWIFE. ~\ No Delicacies From the Btore Can Take the Place of Those Which "Mother Makes”—Bome Things to Remember. Nowhere can the correct measure of the careful housewife be so readily and easily taken as in the jelly or preserve closet Too many families depend upon the grocer for such things, losing both in expense and in quality. Pickled and preserved fruits and vegetables go a long way in giving variety to the home table in the winter when native fruits and vegetables are no longer to be had, except In this form. Children, and the men folks as well, prefer the Jams and Jellies “which mother makes" to any which can be bought at the store, and though their preparation involves intelligent thought and hard work, later enjoyment ought to be an ample reward. Berries and small fruits are about done in the markets, but fruits and vegetables suitable for pickling and preserving are now in their prime. Modem ingenuity applied to housekeeping problems has gone far beyond the old-time preserves And sweet sauces of a generation or so ago. First on the list come the jellies, and for this purpose currants, apples, grapes, quinces and cranberries are the favorites. Currants are now out of the market, and it must be assumed that the housewife took advantage of the market supply when the fruit was in season. Both white and red currants make delicious jelly, and a mixture adds variety in color and flavor. ' > All fruit intended for jelly should be tart and not too ripe, as In the latter case difficulty may be experienced In getting the' Jelly firm enough to BUit. The making of Jelly requires much sugar, and if the fruit used is mild in flavor or ripe the result will be insipid. Apples lend themselves very readily to the use of the jelly makers, whether table fruit or of the’ crabapple variety. Porter apples and Gravensteins are especially recommenced, but a good, firm Baldwin, not too ripe, and in fact any firm, tart v apple of pleasant flavor can be used. Crabapples are universal favorites for Jelly making, the color depending somewhat upon the variety of apple used, but more on the cooking, especially the time the jelly is boiled after the sugar is put in. Grape jelly is well liked, but for this wild grapes, picked while still partially green, are needed, though a mixture of wild grapes and Concords mt}kes a very good jelly. Quinces also make a beautifully colored, spicy jelly, economical housewives often using the quince paringß when the fruit has been prepared for preserving. Other seasonable material is to be found in barberries, pieked before the frost, comes while some of the fruit la Btlil green, damsons and cranberries’. The latter is possibly the simplest and easiest to make, as the fruit jellies readily and less care is necessary to keep out the mashed fruit—Boston Transcript.