Pear Butter

Pare, core and cut in small pieces. Allow ¼ pound of light brown sugar to each pound of fruit, and 1 cupful of cold water to every 2 pounds of pears. Add the sugar when they have cooked one hour, together with 1 quart of cider to each 2 pounds of sugar, and let all cook slowly until a thick marmalade, This will take about four hours. Should it get too dry while cooking add more cider.

Muskmelon Butter

Take very ripe melons, so ripe as to be soft; cut them open, take out the seeds, then scrape the melon from the rind with a knife, and to every 2 gallons of melon take 2½ pounds of brown sugar. Put in a kettle and boil this same as apple butter. Flavor while hot with lemon. Good.

Plum Butter

Cook the plums until tender; run through a colander, put in a preserving-kettle with a very little water. To each pound of fruit add ½ pound sugar, though by using ¾ to a pound it will thicken sooner and more butter will be made from less fruit. Boil until thick, stirring almost constantly after the sugar is added. This is a delicious butter.

Plum Butter (II)

When plums are scarce a nice butter may be made by taking plums and sweet apples, half and half; boil both until tender, using separate kettles. Put both through a colander; mix and cook as above.

Grape Butter

Pulp the grapes, put the skins in a bag, stew the pulps until the seeds can be removed by rubbing through a colander. To each pound of the pulp add 1 pound of sugar, ½ pint of cider vinegar, ½ teaspoonful of cloves, 1 teaspoonful of cinnamon and 1 teaspoonful of nutmeg. Boil this very slowly, putting in the bag of skins, tied securely. When it jellies by dropping in cold water it is done. Put away in jars. For an ornamental dish it can be re-heated and put in fancy molds to jelly over.

Grape Butter, (II)

Take sweet apples and grapes, half and half. Cook the apples tender and rub through a colander. Prepare the grapes as above, using 1 pound of sugar to 2 pounds of the mixed fruit. The skins may be boiled in a bag and taken out as above, or they may be stirred into the butter. The above is the better way. Leave plain or spice according to first recipe.

Orange Butter

Take the juice of 6 oranges and yolks of 8 hard-boiled eggs. rub together in a mortar with 5 tablespoon-fuls of pulverized loaf sugar and 1 tablespoonful of orange-water. When reduced to a paste stir over a slow fire for twenty minutes until thickened. Dip a mold in cold water and pour in the mixture. When cold turn out and serve with fancy cakes.

Pumpkin Butter

3 pints of mashed pumpkin.

1 pound of sugar. 4 tablespoonfuls of butter.

Flavor with ginger root, nutmeg and lemon peel.

Either bake or steam the pumpkin. Rub thoroughly through a sieve, mix with the sugar, butter, flavor, and let simmer on the back of the stove one hour. It becomes thick and can be kept-in jars in a dark place. Use the same as fruit jelly or marmalade.

Apple Butter

Take equal parts of sweet cider, boiled-down one-half, and fine juicy apples, pared and quartered - 2 gallons or the boiled-down cider and 2 gallons of the prepared fruit. Put the cider in a large kettle (never use brass or bell-metal) and boil down, then add the fruit, boil for two hours. When the fruit be; rins to settle arrange to have it cook more slowly, stirring gently until done. A large wooden spoon or a paddle made for the purpose must be used. Cook until it is a smooth brown pulp, like a thin marmalade; one-half hour before removing from the fire, add 3 heaping tablespoonfuls of ground cinnamon and 1 tablespoonful of allspice. (If the spice is boiled in from the first it will lose its flavor.) Four pints of brown sugar to the above amount of fruit. Some cooks prefer to omit the sugar. When cold put in large stone jars closely covered. If sufficiently boiled it will keep a year or more. This quantity may be doubled or quadrupled at pleasure. Two or three quarts more of apple may be added to first two gallons, if the cider will admit of it.