Bottled Tomatoes

Cut off the stems and green parts from four or five pounds of ripe tomatoes, divide them into small pieces, put them into a stewpan with two onions, two bay-leaves, three or four cloves, and pepper and salt to taste. Boil them, stirring at the same time until tender, then turn the pulp onto a fine sieve with a basin underneath to catch the liquor as it runs through. When all the juice has drained from the tomatoes put it in the stewpan, and boil until reduced to half its original quantity. Pass the pulp through a sieve, but do not allow the onions or bay-leaves to go through, and mix it with the reduced liquor. Turn the conserve into wide-mouthed bottles, cork them and tie them down. Place the bottles in a saucepan with some straw between them to prevent their breaking and cold water up to their necks, and boil them for thirty minutes or so. Afterward leave them in water off the fire until cold. Wipe them, dip their nozzles in bottle-wax, and place them in a dry store-cupboard for future use.

Burnt Onions

Peel one-half pound of onions, place in a saucepan with a breakfast cupful of water, and cook for five minutes. Add eight ounces of moist sugar and simmer gently until the mixture is almost black. Pour in one gill of boiling vinegar, stirring well with a wooden spoon, and it is then ready for use. It may be poured into bottles and kept if required.

Cayenne Pepper

For this, thick-skinned, fine, long red peppers must be used. Spread about one-half pound of them on a tray, and dry in the open air, but not in the sun; then remove all the stalks, place them in a mortar and pound them thoroughly. Put the cayenne into jars and it is then ready for use. The mortar should be covered over with a cloth while pounding in order to prevent the dust from flying into the eyes of the operator.

Chow-Chow

Cut into small pieces two heads of white cabbage and boil them until they are quite tender; then take two heads of cauliflower, cut them up, place them in a separate pan, and boil; also one quart of small onions, a dozen small cucumbers, one-half gallon of small tomatoes and six roots of chopped celery; cooking all in separate pans. Then put two gallons of vinegar, four ounces each of ground mustard and mustard seed, a small pot of French mustard, two ounces of turmeric and one ounce of cloves into a pan and set this over the fire. When it boils mix all the vegetables together and pour the liquor over them. Let it get cold and then put it into jars; cover these over and tie down.