Health, or, How to Live

FRUITS

BAKED APPLES. — The best baking apples are moderately tart, or very juicy sweet ones. The former, of ordinary size, will bake in about thirty minutes; the latter in about forty-five minutes. Select for baking apples of nearly equal size; wipe them dry and clean; put a very little water in the bottom of the baking vessel, and place them in a hot oven. HHTL 41.3

BAKED APPLES (Another Form.) — Take moderately sour apples, cut out the stem and blow end, wash them, fill the cavities with sugar, and place in a pie tin with little water. When done, take up on plates and dip the juice arising from the apple and sugar over them. They are better than preserves. HHTL 41.4

BAKED APPLES (Another form.) — Pare and core tart apples. Lay the quarters evenly on a pie tin. Bake till done. Slip them carefully into a deep plate and put on them sugar and cream. HHTL 41.5

STEWED GREEN APPLES. — Apples for stewing should be well flavored and juicy. Sweet apples, when stewed, turn more or less dark colored, and hence do not appear as well as tart ones on the table, though some persons prefer them. Pare, core, and quarter; put a little water to them, and boil moderately till soft, and add sufficient sugar to suit taste — more or less, according to the acidity of the fruit. Some cooks flavor them with lemon; others with a small portion of peaches or other fruit. Good apples, however, are good enough in and of themselves. HHTL 41.6

BOILED APPLES. — Select tart mellow apples. Boil in water sufficient to cover them, with the addition of sugar or molasses. When tender, remove into a vegetable dish, carefully simmer down the syrup and pour over the apples. HHTL 42.1

STEAMED SWEET APPLES. — Select apples of uniform size, remove the stem and blow end, place in an earthen dish in a steamer, steam until a fork will pass through them easily. They will be very juicy and delicious. HHTL 42.2

STEWED DRIED APPLES. — Select rich, mellow, flavored fruits, which are clear from dark spots or mould. Wash and pick the pieces, boil in just water enough to cover them over a slow fire, without stirring, till partially softened; then add sugar or molasses and continue the boiling till done. HHTL 42.3

CIDER APPLE-SAUCE. — Six gallons sweet cider boiled down to three, add one and a half pounds sugar. This is sufficient for one bushel of apples. Some prefer the apples dried a very little, this keeps them from falling to pieces. HHTL 42.4

CIDER APPLE SAUCE. — Take six quarts sweet apples quartered and cored, pour over them one and one-half pints boiling water, and cook slowly. When about one-third done add one-half cup sugar and three-fourths of a pint of boiled cider or apple syrup, and cook till they can be pierced easily with a fork. HHTL 42.5

NOTE. — These proportions make a much better sauce than where more boiled cider is used. We wish this dish might be brought into more general use. If properly cooked it is excellent. Every one in the country knows how boiled cider is made, but every one in the city is not supposed to, from the fact that it is a commodity rarely met with in the city markets. It is made by taking new, sweet cider fresh from the press, and boiling it down till it is about the consistency of common molasses. It is more wholesome than sugar and added to apples in this way it is much more palatable. HHTL 42.6

APPLE BUTTER. — Boil cider made from sweet apples down to about the consistency of very thin molasses. Pare and core sweet or sour apples, as preferred, sufficient for the quantity of cider, and cook to a pulp. While the cider is boiling hot, add the pulp, and continue boiling, without cessation four hours, or longer, according to the thickness desired. Constant stirring from the time the pulp is added, is necessary to prevent burning. Apple butter made in this way, and boiled down very thick, will keep for years without spices, and is very nice. HHTL 42.7

IMITATION OF STRAWBERRIES.— Take tart apples suitable for eating. Chop not very fine; sprinkle sugar over them and add cream. Sweet apples are good served in this way. This is an excellent dish. HHTL 43.1

PEARS. — Pears may be baked, boiled, or stewed in the same manner as apples. Some varieties of small, early, and sweet pears are very delicious boiled whole without paring, and sweetened with syrup. The large pears are usually selected for baking. HHTL 43.2

UNCOOKED PEACHES. — When we have peaches as good and ripe as all peaches ought to be, the best way to prepare them is this: Peel them; cut the fruit off the stones in quarters, or smaller pieces; fill the dish; sprinkle on sugar, and add cream if desired. HHTL 43.3

BOILED PEACHES. — They should be pared — except when the skins are very smooth, clean and tender — but not pitted; boiled moderately till sufficiently cooked, and then sweetened. HHTL 43.4

STEWED DRIED PEACHES. — Wash, and soak in cold water over night. In the morning, sweeten and bring to a boil for a few minutes. Blackberries, raspberries, and indeed, all dried fruits are prepared in the same manner. They should be carefully looked over, washed, and set to soak in cold or tepid water, for two or three hours. Then stew in the same water till soft. Sweeten just before taking from the fire, and, when done, stir in a little flour to thicken the juices. HHTL 43.5

CHERRIES. — Stewing is the only proper method for cooking this fruit. Remove the stalks from the cherries; pick them over carefully, rejecting all unsound ones; put them into a pan, with a very little water, and sugar in the proportion of about three ounces to a pound of cherries; simmer them slowly over the fire, shaking the pan round occasionally till done. If a richer article is wanted take the cherries out with a colander spoon, and keep them in a basin till cold; reduce the sweetened water to the consistency of syrup, and put it over the cherries. HHTL 43.6

QUINCES. — It has been said that quinces commend themselves more to the sense of smell than taste; hence are better to “adorn” other preparations than to be prepared themselves. When stewed till quite tender, and sweetened, they are, however, a very pleasant, yet rather expensive kind of sauce. In the form of marmalade, they are a better seasoning for bread, cakes or puddings, than butter. HHTL 44.1

GRAPES. — Good, ripe, well-cultivated Delawares, Isabellas, and Catawbas are incomparably superior in dietetic character, without “the interference of art.” What a blessing it would be to the human race if all the vineyards in the world were made to supply wholesome food for children, instead of pernicious poison for adults! HHTL 44.2

CURRANTS. — Green currants, when half or two-thirds grown, are more mild flavored and pleasant than when fully ripe; nor do we find them often disagreeing with ordinary dyspeptics. They require stewing but a short time, and moderately sweetening. The best currants, when quite ripe, may be eaten uncooked, with a sprinkling of sugar. HHTL 44.3

PLUMS. — These must be managed according to their character and flavor. Many varieties are too sour to be eaten without stewing, and the addition of considerable sugar. Some kinds, however, are sweet and luscious enough to require neither. HHTL 44.4

STEWED CRANBERRIES. — Wash and pick the berries; stew them in just as little water as will prevent their burning, till they become soft; then add half a pound of sugar to a pound of the fruit, and simmer a few minutes. HHTL 44.5

STRAWBERRIES. — Serve with sugar and cream. HHTL 45.1

TOMATOES — Take nice ripe tomatoes, peel and slice, then serve with cream and sugar. This is very nice. HHTL 45.2

TOMATOES — STEWED. — Pour over the tomatoes scalding water, and take off the skins; and when a quantity is to be cooked, slice and put into a kettle without water; warm very slowly at first; stew slowly three quarters of an hour; and while stewing, add, to suit the taste, coarse ground baker’s crackers. Sugar may be added as a seasoning, if desired. HHTL 45.3

For a small quantity, prepare the tomatoes as before, put them into a spider with an equal bulk of broken, fresh, brown bread; add a little water, a very little fresh butter, cover closely, and stew fifteen or twenty minutes, or until thoroughly cooked. HHTL 45.4

TOMATO TOAST. — A very desirable dish is made by toasting brown bread, laying it in a dish, and pouring over it tomatoes stewed as in the first instance, without the addition of crackers. Green tomatoes may be substituted for ripe ones, and are preferred by some persons. HHTL 45.5