Tomato Butter

To ten pounds of fine ripe tomatoes, put five pounds of good brown sugar, a pint of cider-vinegar, a tablespoonful of cinnamon, one of allspice and cloves mixed, and boil gently for three or four hours. Skin the tomatoes, and cut out the green core,

Spiced Cantelope

Take cantelopes fit for the table, cut them in half, scrape out all the seeds, slice and pare them, put them in an earthen pan, and cover them with good cider-vinegar; let them stand twenty-four hours, then strain off the juice and vinegar, measure one quart of juice for each preserving-kettle of fruit that you may have, and to every quart add three pounds of light-brown sugar, half an ounce of cloves, the same of cinnamon in sticks, and half an ounce of blades of mace; put the vinegar and spice over the fire with the melon and boil fifteen minutes; take out the melon and lay it in jars three parts full; boil the syrup fifteen minutes more and pour over hot. When cold, close the jars. This is very nice.

How To Stew Pears For Winter Use

Pare and cut them in half, take out the cores; put them in a large kettle, pour on them cold water, not quite covering them, and let them boil until very tender; then put on them half their weight in light brown sugar and a teacup of molasses to every ten pounds of fruit; cook them several hours, until the syrup is rich and thick. Put them in large jars, and when entirely cold, cover closely. These are very good on pie-crust, or for luncheon.

Grapes For Winter Pies

After the first frost, pick the wild grapes, either fox-grapes or the little winter-grapes, pick them from their stems, and put them in a large stone jar, putting a thick layer of grapes and sprinkling plentifully with good brown sugar, until the jar is filled; then cover them with boiling molasses, and tie them over the top with a paper cover; set them on the top of the range or stove in a pan of boiling water for several days. Small blue plums may be prepared in the same way, and make very good winter pies.

Candied Orange-Peel

Peel the oranges with a sharp knife without any of the white pulp; put the peel over the fire in a preserving-kettle, cover it with boiling water, simmer ten minutes and change the water; simmer again, and again change the water, and boil until the peel is tender. Make a syrup of two pounds of sifted sugar and a pint of cold water; when the sugar is dissolved, set it over a moderate fire; when it boils, skim it, and keep boiling until no more scum arises; drain the orange-peel, and put it in an earthen pan; pour the syrup boiling hot over the peel, and let it stand two days; then drain off the syrup, put it in the kettle with a handful more sugar; bring it to a boil, and again pour it over the peel, and let it lie two days more. Make a fresh syrup, the same as the first; boil it until, when you dip a perforated skimmer in it and blow through the holes, a bubble will form on the other side of the skimmer; then drain the peel from the first syrup, put it into the boiling syrup, and boil it, stirring all the time until the sugar is becoming white; then take out the peel with a fork, drain it on a sieve, and dry it in a cool oven or in the sun. When perfectly dry, pack it in jars. It will keep for years. Lemon-peel is candied in the same way.

This is used in fruit-cake, gingerbread, and mince-meat.