Amy Waterman - A Little Preserving Book for a Little Girl

The prunes, mother said, would have to be thoroughly washed in several waters, then soaked over night in the cup of water. This Adelaide did, and the next morning put them on the stove in her little saucepan to boil until thoroughly cooked. With two silver forks Adelaide then removed the stones and rubbed the fruit through a strainer; returning the fruit to the saucepan, she added the sugar and lemon juice, cooked it slowly one half-hour, poured into sterilized tumblers, and let cool.

When cold, Adelaide wiped each tumbler, poured melted paraffin over the top of marmalade, shook gently from side to side to exclude all air, pasted on the labels, and stored away in the preserve closet.

Apple marmalade came next, and mother thought that that was sufficient for the present.

These were nice tart apples of fine flavor. Adelaide washed them well, cut into quarters (removing stem and blossoms only), put in saucepan, and added enough water to almost, though not quite, cover the apples. These she cooked slowly until very soft, then pressed them through a strainer. She next measured the fruit, returned it to the saucepan, and to each cup of fruit added three-fourths of a cup of sugar. Returning the saucepan to the fire, Adelaide let it boil gently for three-quarters of an hour, stirring every little while.

The sterilized tumblers were ready, and into these Adelaide poured the marmalade; when cool she wiped the tops and outsides clean, poured melted paraffin over the marmalade, shook the tumblers from side to side gently to exclude all air, pasted on the labels, and stored away in the preserve closet.

Of course Adelaide did not make her jams, jellies, etc., in the order given, but according to the season, and she welcomed each fruit in its turn. Adelaide was especially fond of jams; they did make the most delicious sandwiches when she came home hungry from school or went on a picnic, but the climax of enjoyment was reached when mother made rolly-polly jam puddings in the winter.

Strawberries were usually first on the market, and so "Strawberry Jam" was the first attempt in the jam making line.

Mother told Adelaide to empty the strawberries into the colander and place in a pan of cold water, then to dip the colander up and down so as to thoroughly cleanse the berries; next to change the water two or three times until it was clear, then lift out the colander and drain. Mother also said that you should never wash berries after they were hulled, because if you did you lost part of the juice.

After Adelaide felt sure they were clean, and after mother had carefully inspected them, she commenced to hull the berries, using the strawberry huller, then she weighed the berries and measured out three-fourths their weight in sugar.

With a wooden potato masher Adelaide mashed the berries in the saucepan and poured over the sugar; this mixture she let stand a few minutes before putting the saucepan on the stove and letting it come slowly to the boiling point. When the fruit had cooked slowly for forty-five minutes, Adelaide stirring frequently, meanwhile, with the wooden spoon, it was ready for her to pour into sterilized tumblers, which she had previously prepared. The tops and outsides of the tumblers she wiped with a clean cloth as soon as the jam had cooled, then poured melted paraffin over the jam, and shook gently from side to side to make it air tight.

Adelaide was always glad when it came time to paste on the neat little labels and put the tumblers away in the preserve closet; she was very much surprised, too, to see how quickly her bench was becoming filled.

In the beginning, mother had told her that sometimes it would seem as though she spent all of her time preserving, for the fruits and vegetables followed fast upon one another, but Adelaide replied she was sure she would not mind, she was so eager to learn.

Adelaide picked over the raspberries before washing them, and mother told her to keep a sharp look-out for little worms that sometimes curled themselves up in the center, and you may be sure Adelaide's keen eyes never missed one if there were any. Next she put them in the colander, and then dipped the colander up and down in a pan of clear cold water several times. When all possible dirt had been washed away, Adelaide stood the colander to drain, after which she poured the berries into the saucepan and weighed them.

Adelaide found it a great convenience to know the weight of each saucepan she used, and she kept a little card showing just how much each one weighed, then when they were weighed with the fruit, all she needed to do was to subtract the weight from the total of the saucepan to find out how much the fruit weighed.

To each pound of raspberries Adelaide measured three-fourths of a pound of sugar, then she mashed the berries, added the sugar, and let the mixture stand a short time before putting it on the stove to cook.

When the fruit had become heated to the boiling point, Adelaide let it cook slowly for forty-five minutes, not forgetting to stir with the wooden spoon to keep from burning; meanwhile, she had sterilized the tumblers and they were ready when the jam had finished cooking. Adelaide poured the jam into the tumblers at once, and as soon as it had cooled she wiped the tops and outsides carefully, poured melted paraffin over the jam, shook it gently from side to side to make it secure from the air, pasted on the labels, and stored them away in the preserve closet.

First, Adelaide picked over the raspberries very carefully and placed them in the colander, then she removed the stems from the currants and added them to the raspberries. These she then dipped in clear cold water several times and set aside to drain. Next she weighed the fruit, and to each pound she added a pound of sugar.

She mashed the fruit well with the wooden masher in the saucepan and poured over the sugar. After a few minutes the juice began to run and she put the saucepan on the stove, letting the jam heat slowly through. When it boiled, Adelaide stirred it frequently and let it cook forty-five minutes. It was then ready to pour into the sterilized tumblers. When cold, she wiped the top and outside of each tumbler, poured melted paraffin over the jam, shook it gently from side to side, thus excluding all air, pasted on the labels and put away in the preserve closet.

This combination of raspberries and red currants was a great favorite with everybody.

The red currants Adelaide removed from their stems and put in the colander to be thoroughly washed. This was done by dipping the colander up and down in a pan of clear cold water. If they were very dusty, she changed the water several times.