Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/85

pint of juice; stir well with a wooden spoon till all is dissolved, then set on the fire again till it jells, which it will in from half-an-hour to forty minutes. It will be noticed round the sides of the pan first; now remove from the fire, and when cool pour into glasses, jars, etc. This is much prettier than marmalade made with citron, and it has much the same flavour.

Mandarins.—The little sour mandarin orange makes delicious jelly treated in exactly the same way. Every one knows how to make guava jelly, so I need give no directions, but I may tell those who cannot get their guava jelly to cut clean like the Indian preserve, that it is owing to acid put in at the last moment. About half a cupful of lemon or lime juice should be added to a good pan of jelly just the minute before lifting it from the fire. One often sees sticky jelly, which is very nice to eat and in appearance, but only needs that one quality, which the lemon juice can give.

When the season has been very wet, the fruit should be left to stand some hours after it is cut up, and before the sugar is over it. In this way some of the water will drain out, and should be thrown away. Very often the watery state of the fruit is the cause of fermentation in the jam afterwards. In some seasons it is even advisable to evaporate some of the water before adding sugar.

Jelly can frequently be made from the skins, cores, &c., of the fruit—for instance, quince, apple, and pineapple. A novel way of preserving the last-named is the following:—

Pineapple.—Take a couple or three ripe pines. Slice them as thin as possible, having peeled off every particle of skin. Now get a glass prune jar, put a little sugar at the bottom, then a slice of pine, more sugar, and another slice, and so on till the jar is quite full. Now squeeze the juice of two or three lemons, or limes, over the top. Put the lid on, and fasten securely, and place the jar in a saucepan of water over the fire; let it

boil several hours—in fact, as long as possible. This makes a lovely preserve.

Pineapple Conserve.

Ingredients: One pineapple, powdered sugar, two or three lemons.

Mode: Take a pine that is quite ripe all over, mind not the least over ripe, but just when it is at its best. Peel very carefully, and pick out all the eyes with the point of a sharp knife. Now lay it upon a board and slice very thin, without breaking any of the slices. Have some powdered sugar if possible, or good loaf sugar. Begin to build up your pine, again putting a thick layer of the sugar between each slice till the pine is whole together again. It is best to do it on a soup plate or shallow dish of some sort, and be as quick as possible, as the sugar will all melt away. Having got the whole together, now wind thread round it so as to keep the slices in position. Use a lot, do not mind the look of it, better have a little thread showing than spoil your conserve. Have ready a glass prune jar large enough to hold the pineapple comfortably, let it be well washed and purified, as unless it is the conserve may not keep. Now very carefully put the pine into the jar, and the best way to do this is by turning the prune jar over the pine, and then slipping the blade of a knife under to lift it. Having got it into the jar, pour in the syrup from the plate with the surplus sugar, and also put in one whole cup of powdered sugar, the juice of two or three lemons, and the grated rind of one, then fill up to just cover the fruit with clear water. before screwing on the lid, pour in about three tablespoonsful of mutton fat (oiled over the fire). Now screw on the lid securely and stand the jar in a boiler—a kerosene tin is the best to do it in, because it is deep—with water just reaching below the top of the jar. If you have more than one jar you must wrap each one in grass, or put some between them to prevent their breaking. Boil for four or five hours, or till the pineapple looks clear. Then draw the fire and