Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers

let them boil gently till the scum arises; when this is taken off, let them cook faster; when clear, take them up on dishes, and boil the syrup longer. Peaches. Have sweet, white clingstone peaches--pare and stone them; to each pound, take a pound of sugar made in a syrup, put the peaches in, and when they look clear, take them up on dishes; let the syrup boil longer. A New Mode of Preserving Peaches. Pare, halve and weigh the peaches; put them in a preserving kettle of boiling water, and to six pounds of peaches, put a tea-spoonful of soda or pearl-ash; let them boil one minute; then take them out, and throw them in cold water; scrape off the black scum which adheres to the peaches; wipe and lay them on a dish; have the kettle cleaned, and put the peaches in layers, with half their weight in sugar; they will not require any water; let them cook slowly at first, then boil till clear--when take them out, and let the syrup boil till it becomes rich. The flavor of the peach is retained, and they are not so sweet as in the old way. Damsons. Weigh out as much sugar as you have fruit; if it is brown you must clarify it; put a pint of water to three pounds of sugar, make a syrup, wash the damsons, put them in and let them cook slowly for half an hour; then take them out on dishes, and let them dry in the sun for two days, taking them in the house at night; boil the syrup half an hour after the fruit is taken out; when done in this way they will be whole and clear. You can make a jam by boiling them slowly for two hours; or a jelly as currants. To Preserve Strawberries. Gather the strawberries in the mid-day, pick out the largest and best, stem them, and to each pound of strawberries put a pound of loaf-sugar and a glass of white wine; let them stand four or five hours; take off the