spoonfuls of flour, two of molasses, and a cup of good yeast. This
yeast should be used while new.

* * * * *




PRESERVES, &C.


Economical people will seldom use preserves, except for sickness.
They are unhealthy, expensive, and useless to those who are well.
Barberries preserved in molasses are very good for common use. Boil
the molasses, skim it, throw in the barberries, and simmer them till
they are soft. If you wish to lay by a few for sickness, preserve them
in sugar by the same rule as other preserves. Melt the sugar, skim it,
throw in the barberries; when done soft, take them out, and throw in
others.

A pound of sugar to a pound of fruit is the rule for all preserves.
The sugar should be melted over a fire moderate enough not to scorch
it. When melted, it should be skimmed clean, and the fruit dropped
in to simmer till it is soft. Plums, and things of which the skin is
liable to be broken, do better to be put in little jars, with their
weight of sugar, and the jars set in a kettle of boiling water, till
the fruit is done. See the water is not so high as to boil into the
jars.

When you put preserves in jars, lay a white paper, thoroughly wet