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Otago Witness, Issue 2687, 13 September 1905, Page 69

THE CANDY COUSIN.

By MAOBILANDA.

(Specially written for the Otago Witness.)

XII.— FLOWERS AND FRUIT.

" So this is tine last day of our spell of «andy -making," said Bee, as she fetcheu foitih basins, spoons, and saucepans. "How we ahull miss you, Edna!" sigheo Ha!, as he ate the last delicate-tinted Tioiet cream. , "Well, I guess it's a good thing Im to quit this country right away," eaid Edna ; practically. "Bee looks as if she would be worn- to a wire edge if hustled on much'- mare—and as for you, Edith, you'd be r down to a pinhead shortly. Candies," 6he ended, emphatically, "should be made any time, not every day and all day."-. "But," pleaded Edith, "there was so much, to learn." '' Sure ! I know," nodded Edna, "and poppa was most likely to say some time, 'We sail to-morrow j' and then we would ihave been up against it. I knew you calculated- to learn all I oould- teach you, and I've been just tickled to death to discover how -to make those cute little apples that ■we did last time — aren't they the best that ever!" she ended with a happy sigh. " Now for the flowei candies, Edith," said Bee, handing her a saucepan as if it ■were the insignia of royalty. "Crystal for flower candies," she said. "A cup of granulated sugar and three tablespoonsfu! of water into the pot. When it is nearly ready, remind me to put a few dlrops of rosewater in," she said, warningly, ''or else I shall certainly forget.'' "Do it now," advised Hal. But Edith shook her^ head. "Boiling never improves flavourings, s( the less of that the better," she said decidedly "Push the asbestos mat under the saucepan, will you, Edna, and tell me when it '. comes to the Koii. Meanwhile I will pre pare these rose leaves." Sh« took a vaseful that had helped to decorate the drawing room on the previous i "At home" day, and scattered free their petals; they fell on to a sheet of newspaper in a glorious pile of pink, yellow, and crimson. "It's boiling." announced Edna. "When •will it be ready for the flowers to be put in?" "Twelve minutes is usually right," answered Edith, " after a moment's thought ; "but you can tell for certain if, when you < drop a little into- a cup of cold water, you can see it and. feel it at all." ' "It need not be as 'hard as for ordinary candies, then?" said the little American, inquiringly. j " Oh, no, decidedly not," answered the «lder girl. "Why, Edith, is it right to stir them?" " Yes, I want it to granulate a bit." Hal handed her a cup of water, and she tested it. "Vi^ r it's feelable. Now I scatter in the rose leaves. . . See?- — I swish them round — so. . . . They should stay in between two oi* three minutes — not more. They are rather tiresome things to do," she added as she lifted a few out ■with a skimmer, "because when I put them on a dish — so — they persist in squirming up. And if they do that they don't look pretty." j "I'll open them out with a couple of pointed matches, and make them lie flat," 1 said Bee, coming to the rescue. "They are ■Well worth, the trouble — they are so nice." , "We must not' keep this syrup boiling > any longer than 15 minutes from "the first bubbling time," instructed Edith, "or it will go 'sugary.' Don't put too many rose leaves in at once, Edna. If you do, they "will all stick together. Now we have finished the second ldt we had better stand ■the saucepan in a bowl of hot water, then -it will not be so exciting. . . . There, that is all the roses we had." "What shall we do with the rest of the candy?" Hal asked. | ".Fut-£hese plates of rcse leaves in the even — it is not very hot, I hope?" - " What for?" asked Edna. ■ " Oh, to dry a little." " You might beat the rest of that syrup np, Hal, arrd stir in these chopped nuts to turn it inta 'cream aut candy.' " said Edna,' springing forward wifh a practical suggestion. "Good thought," said Edith, approvingly. "I'll put on another saucepan while you do it." "Why do you want more?" queried Bee in surprise. ' f For ihe violets and hyacinths," responded Edith. "They make lovely candies ; but vce do not want them scented with rosewater. They need nothing but the water and sugar in the same proportions." (One cup of granulated sugar to three tablespoonsful of water.) "Are they done exactly as you did tie rose leaves?" " Yes, but they are easier to manage, because we can swish the. violets roimd by their stalks, and as for the hyacinths, we can do a lot at a time and cut them off the etems afterwards. " How lovely ;. we can have some of each colour," cried Bee. "Hal, get those rose- leaves out of the oven, please. We must not toast them too long," said Edith. "You see," she added, "the more candy we leave on these, the nicer they are, and the- less we leave, the more professional they look. Now I must shift them on to a clean plate. . All flower and fruit candies must be moved often, or they will not dry properly. If when you " (puf, them in the oven you lay them oni something with holes in it, so that the surplus sugar runs off, they become firm quicker. See how ifc has dripped off these. .iTie drier and crisper they are, the better, you know." "I do know," said Edna — "I've eaten them Gcores of times. Are the French preserved fruits done in the same way? I have always wanted to Jcnow how to dc those." she added. !

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" They are very much like the flowers, but not quite," said Edith. "We will do pineapple glacee now, so that I may chow you the difference. Is that saucepan clean, Bee?" I " Yes ; but uave.-'w* a pineapple?'' " Don't know j but hers is a canned one," said Edna, running her eye swiftly along the shelves. "That will do, but it is preserved a little differently," said Edith. "Presto pass! The tin is open," said Hal, with a flourish. i; "Turn the contents into a. basin, then, ordered Edith. "Bee, I wish you would get a sieve or something of the kind and • fay the slices on it, then put them in the oven to dry. They should be there half an hour at all event's, foi the drying of them is the most important part of the business. When they are nearly ready we can prepare the syrup. — Syrup for Preserved Fruit, or Fruit Glacee. — A cup of sugar and half a cup of water. Let it boil until when tested in water it is quite brittle — harder than for creams. Then drop the slices of pineapple in and let them boil for five minutes. The syrup will begin to discolour. Take out the slices immediately, shake them, and spread them apart on a plate. "Is anything doing where the plate is concerned?" asked Edna. "It must be buttered very slightly,'' amended Edith. "Leave them in a cool place to dry — you must shift them on to clean dishes two or three times."' "What if they won't dry?" asked Bee. "That is the difficulty, isn't it?" Edith nodded. "That would show you had not boiled the syrup Icing, enough be1 fore putting the fruit in, or that you had not diied the fruit properly." "Wtooit would you do to put it right?" asked Edna, wisely. "Leave it -in a cool oven as long ns was necessary. Then dust it over with white granulated sugar. The la6t thing one should do, anyway." "I think these slices are dry," said Bee peeping cautiously into the oven. ' "And the syrup has boiled long enough."' said Edna, sliding the asbestos ' mat under the satioepan. "What differ- , jonce would it make if you were using . fresh pineapple, Edith?" I "You would have to slice it a.nd put- it in when the syrup had boiled for 10 ' minutes ; let it cook for 16 more minutes, ib.on dry it carefully while the syrup hardened up, &o that you could test it in water." "Humph ! I guess the canned is easier," asserted Edna as Edith dropped the slices in. "Ycu've told us \vhat to. do with that, £© I'll attend to it while you concoct some+lifng else." said Be* 1 . "Yes,'" agreed. Edna.. "What other wonders did you discover? I've no use for idleness, and this don't amount to much as ' <k day's work." "I really don't think there is time for ! more," said Edith doubtfully. "Listem, the clocks are striking the houi. Still, I 1 do know some perfectly splendid ways of stuffing dates and prunes." "I guess I have forgotteu as much about dates as the rest of the ivorld ever knew," interrupted Edna; "but what about Lhe prunes ?" Edith drew forth a basin. "I put this half-pound in to soak last nigiht," she said. "Put what to soak in what?" demanded the little American. "Prunes!" cried Edith, laughing, j "Prunes to soak in sherry. Don't be in such- a hurry, Edna ; not accustomed to living at express speed. Where was I? You have made me lose the thread of my discourse. Oh, I know— stuffed prunes. Well, this half-pound has soaked all night in. a wineglassM of sherry, so now we can put the stones out. All hands to the rescue," she insisted. "It's a lengthy process. There, I havt taken out the lastpiece of pineapple, so I can come to help , too," said Bee. "Knives, knives ; moi-e silver fruit knives'" So the four set to work, and presently a pile of stones lay on one plate and a "pyramid of neatly cleft prunes on the other. "Now for the blanched almonds and the walnuts you cracked yesterday, Hal," said Edith. "Put either a walnut or an almond in each prime and hand them to me. I roll them in a half-and-ihalf mixture of granulated and powdered svgar — .so. . . Taste !" She caught up the first foui, put one into each of the three waiting mouths and the last into her own. For a moment there was silence, then exclamations. '"But these are for the ' growa-ups.' " she declared firmly in answer to her demands. "Cruel ! when we've worked so hard to make them," laughed Bee. "Look at the kinds we've done to-day," said Edna; "why, it's simply fierce. Well, I reckon you'd a?l better come to the States next year," the ended as she stuffed the last prune ;.jnd sprang to her feet, stretching iva t^in, little figure in an attempt to resell Edith's height. "Theii I'll show you 'the land of the free and the home of the brave.' " She saluted her English cousins in a soldier-like manner, and unpinning the tiny stars and stripes she had patriotically worn since her arrival in England she raised her shrill, childish voice in the first few lines of her national song :" ■ My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of I Liberty, — 1 Of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrim/ s pride, I From ev'rx mountain gse let Freedom ring.

"But you borrowed the tune from cur ' C4od savo the King," '' cried the three youirg Britons in c herns. But Edna drowned their teasing words in the s^vay of the second verse.

[Fin-is.]