HOUSEHOLD.

New Zealand Mail, 22 April 1887, Page 6

HOUSEHOLD.

To Peeserve Quinces whole or in ■quarters. —Pare them finely, put into a pan, cover with the parings, and fill the pan with water ; cover it close to keep in the steam, and simmer gently till they are soft and pink. Take them up carefully and drain from the water. Make a strong syrup with best loaf sugar, boil and skim it; when the quinces are cold put them into this and boil gently till they look clear, then take them up carefully, put into jars, and pour the syrup over.

Quince Marmalade. —Take ripe quinces, pare, core, and cut into quarters ; put them into the preserving pan, and cover with the parings, then add water enough to cover the whole, and stew till the fruit is soft and has a pinkish tinge ; then carefully pick out the the quinces, and with the back of a wooden spoon press them to a pulp. Take the weight of the pulp in loaf sugar, dissolve it in ju3t as much water as it will take, boil, and skim well, then put in the quince pulp, and simmer gently for an hour, stirring wellAbout ten minutes before pouring up put in a few finely cut slices of lemon. Quince Jelly. —Peel, cut up, and core some fine ripe quinces. Put them in sufficient cold water to cover them, and stew gently till soft, but not red. Strain the juice without pressure, weigh it, and to every pound of juice allow lib. of crushed sugar. Boil the juice for twenty minutes, add the sugar, and boil again till it jellies—about a quarter of an hour ; stir and skim well all the time. Strain it again through a napkin or twice-folded muslin, pour into pots or moulds, and when cold cover it. The remainder of the fruit can be made into marmalade with lib. of sugar and IJlb. of juicy apples to every pound of quinces, or into cakes. Quince and Apple Jelly.— Take equal quantities of quinces and apples ; stew them separately till tender (the quinces ■will take the longest), strain the juice, mix it, and to every pound of juice allow fib. of pounded sugar ; proceed as for quince jelly. Quince Cakes. —Take the pulp after extracting the juice, and weigh it; allow rather less than a pound of sifted sugar to each pound of pulp ; press the pulp through a hair sieve, and then mix the sugar with it and a very little juice just to moisten it; stir over a clear fire until reduced to a stiff paste. Put it into shallow pans, and when cold cut it into cakes.

Mushroom Catsup. Break a peck of large mushrooms into a deep earthenware pan ; strew three-quarters of a pound of salt among them, and set them in a cool oven for one night, with a fold of cloth or paper over tlhem. The following day strain off the liquor, measure and boil for 15 minutes, then, for each quart add an ounces of black pepper, a quarter of an ounce of allspice, half an ounce ginger, and two blades of mace, and let it boil fast for 20 minutes longer. vVhen perfectly cool put it into bottles; cork them well, and dip the necks into melted resin. Balloon Potatoes. —Take some large potatoes, peel them and cut them in slices, rather less than a quarter of an inch thick • dry them thoroughly with a cloth, and put them in a frying basket. Have ready two pans filled with boiling lard ; plunge the basket in one of them and keep shaking it; in two or three minutes lift up the basket and plunge it into the other pau, when the slices of potatoes will swell out ; drain them of all fat and serve. The secret of success consists in removing the basket from the first pan of fat at the right moment ; the potatoes should not be allowed to color in it.