Jam (Any Kind Of Fruit)

Pare, core, and quarter the fruit. (Use sour or sweet apples, pears, quinces, peaches, etc., or berries of any kind.) Boil (gently at first) in enough water to cover them, until quite soft. Then add a few pieces of root ginger, and the rind and juice of a lemon, with three quarters of a pound of sugar to one pound of fruit. Boil (stirring constantly) until thick. Put into jars, and when cold seal.

To Can Fruit. Any kind of fruit can be canned in this way. Simply boil it till tender, adding, when half done, sugar to taste. It is not necessary to have more than one tablespoonful to each quart, for it is not the amount of sugar that ensures the "keeping" of the fruit, but its being sealed while boiling hot. The less sugar used, the better, for then you get the flavor of the fresh fruit, which is so desirable in canned things. As soon as the fruit is thoroughly tender, and the sugar is entirely dissolved, put into jars in this way; set the jars in a large pan of warm water at the side of the stove, having rolled them, with the tops off, in a pan of very hot water. (Be sure to see that the jars, with the rubbers and tops, are all in order, before you put the fruit to cook.) Do not have the rubbers on. With a ladle dip the hot fruit into the hot jars, putting one ladleful into each in turn, to heat them all gradually, and prevent their cracking. Then, without taking from the stove, wipe off carefully around the tops, where any of the fruit or juice has been spilled, and slip on the rubbers. With a cloth wrapped around the jar to prevent burning your fingers, hold the jar firm, while you screw on the top. When all are screwed down, begin at the first and screw more tightly; you will find as the day goes on that this will have to be repeated several times, for as the jars cool they will shrink, thus leaving the tops loose. In this repeated tightening of the tops, lies one great secret of success in canning. If these directions are carried out, and the jars kept in a cool dark place, the fruit will keep for a year or more without any trouble; i. e. if care is taken to use only fruit which is in prime condition (ripe, but not over ripe), and no decayed pieces are put in. Some say it is well to put a silver fork in the jars while filling them to prevent their cracking.

Grape Jam

Wash the grapes, and while wet, separate the skin from the pulp, keeping them in two different dishes. Put the pulp into the preserving-kettle. When thoroughly heated, pass it through a strainer to separate the seeds; then put with it the skins, and weigh. To one pound allow three quarters of a pound of sugar. If necessary, add a very little water to keep from burning; but, in general, grapes are juicy enough of themselves.

Boil slowly three quarters of an hour.

This is a delicious jam.

The skins are separated from the pulp, so that the latter will pass more readily through the strainer. Never put grapes, even for a moment, into tin, for the tin will discolor them.

The wild grape is much the best for this purpose.