Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches

water tastes perfectly fresh. Boil a small lump of alum, and scald them in the alum-water. It must be very weak, or it will communicate an unpleasant taste to the citrons; a lump the size of a hickory nut will suffice for six pounds. Afterwards simmer them two hours with layers of green vine leaves. Then make a syrup, allowing a pint of water to each pound of loaf-sugar; boil and skim it well. When it is quite clear, put in the citrons, and boil them slowly, till they are so soft that a straw will pierce through them without breaking. Afterwards put them into a large dish, and set them in the sun to harden. Prepare some lemons, by paring off the yellow rind very thin, and cutting it into slips of uniform size and shape. Lay the lemon-rind in scalding water, to extract the bitterness. Then take the pared lemons, cut them into quarters, measure a half pint of water to each lemon, and boil them to a mash. Strain the boiled lemon through a sieve, and to each pint of liquid allow a pound of the best double-refined loaf-sugar, for the second syrup. Melt the sugar in the liquid, and stir into it gradually some beaten white of egg; allowing one white to four pounds of sugar. Then set it over the fire; put the lemon-peel into the syrup, and let it boil in it till quite soft. Put the citrons cold into a glass jar, and pour the hot syrup over them. Let the lemon remain with the citrons, as it will improve their flavour. If you wish the citrons to be candied, boil down the second syrup to candy height, (that is, till it hangs in strings from the spoon,) and pour it over the citrons. Keep them well covered. You may, if you choose, after you take the citrons from the alum-water, give them a boil in very weak ginger tea, made of the roots of green ginger if you can procure it; if not, of race ginger. Powdered ginger will not do at