To Preserve Gooseberries

Take six quarts of gooseberries, select three quarts of the largest and finest to preserve whole, reserving the others for the jelly.

Put the whole ones into a pan with enough water to cover them, and simmer slowly until tender, but do not keep them on the fire until they are likely to burst.

Remove the whole gooseberries carefully with a perforated skimmer, drain the warm water, and place them directly into a pan of cold water.

Put the gooseberries intended for the jelly into a stew-pan, adding half a pint of water per quart of gooseberries.

Boil them quickly until they break apart, then stir and mash them with a spoon.

Place the mash into a jelly-bag that has been dipped in hot water, and squeeze to extract all the juice.

Measure the juice, and add a pound and a half of loaf-sugar per pint of juice.

Break up the sugar and put it into a preserving kettle; pour the juice over it and let it stand to melt, stirring frequently.

When the sugar has dissolved, set the kettle over the fire, add the gooseberries, and boil for twenty minutes or until clear and the jelly thickens and congeals in the spoon when held in the air.

If the gooseberries seem likely to break, remove them carefully and let the jelly boil by itself until finished.

When done, put the gooseberries and the jelly together in glass jars.

To stew gooseberries: top and tail them, pour boiling water over them, cover, and let set about half an hour or until the skin is tender but not burst.

Pour off the water, mix with an equal quantity of sugar, and put into a porcelain stew-pan or skillet.

Set the pan on hot coals or a charcoal furnace, mash the gooseberries against the side with a wooden spoon, and stew about half an hour, stirring frequently.

Let the stew cool completely before using.

Gooseberry Fool: having stewed two quarts of gooseberries, stir them into a quart of rich boiling milk, grate in nutmeg, cover, and simmer for five minutes.

Stir in the beaten yolks of two or three eggs, remove from fire, keep covered a few minutes longer, then turn out into a deep dish or glass bowl and let cool before serving.

Add additional sugar at the last if desired.

Gooseberry pudding: use gooseberries prepared as above, add a little grated bread, use both whites and yolks of eggs, stir well, bake in a deep dish, and serve cold with grated sugar.

To bottle gooseberries: top and tail them, place into wide-mouthed bottles up to the neck, cork slightly, and cover the bottom of a large boiler with saw-dust or straw.

Stand the bottles upright in the boiler, pour cold water around them up to the fruit, and heat with a brisk fire until the water boils.

Immediately take out the bottles and fill them up to the mouth with boiling water from a tea kettle.

Cork them again slightly, and when cool, insert tight corks and seal.

Lay the bottles on their sides in a box of dry sand, turning them daily for four or five weeks.

The gooseberries will keep for a year and can be used by stewing with sugar.

The same bottling method may be used for damsons and grapes.