CHAPTER IX

FRUITS AND LIGHT PUDDINGS

STERILIZED DRIED FRUITS

Place some dried cherries, apricots, currants or prunes in a Mason jar. Fill to the top, cover with water, and let stand over night. The next day set the jar into a water bath, heat to the boiling point, then cool. Enough can be prepared to last for several days. The juice may be used again for soaking, or it can be used for fruit gruels.

SOAKED FRUIT. No. 1.

Wash some dried fruit, put into a bowl, pour over some hot or cold water, place over it a little saucer with a weight upon it; in this way it requires less water; let stand over night. It is ready for use the next morning, and may be mixed with boiled cereals in place of sugar.

SOAKED FRUIT. No. 2.

Place some dried fruit in a bowl, pour over it some hot cereal coffee. Use in the same way as number one. This is excellent for people suffering with fermentation of the stomach. The cereal coffee acts as a preservative.

FIG BUTTER. No. 1.

Wash some dried figs, dry them; then cut into small pieces, and grind on a nut grinder. Mix with one-fourth (in quantity) of ryenuts. Serve with whipped or sterilized cream.

FIG BUTTER. No. 2.

Prepare as the foregoing. Mix with about one-third or one-fourth of ground nuts, also with ryenuts, if desired. Serve with lettuce.

Compotes or Stewed Fruits are more wholesome and economical than jams and jellies, which are prepared with large amounts of sugar. A few jars of sterilized fruit juice should be prepared and kept on hand for medicinal purposes only.

RAISIN OR CURRANT BUTTER.

Prepare like figs. Mix with ground nuts. Serve with lettuce or with chopped apples.

BUCKTHORN BARK EMULSION. No. 1.

Pour a quart of boiling water on five ounces of Buckthorn bark, let steep for from 10 to 15 minutes, then strain; wash about a half a pound of dried French prunes, cut into small pieces, soak these with the strained hot Buckthorn tea for an hour or longer, then steep until tender, press through a colander thoroughly.

BUCKTHORN BARK EMULSION. No. 2.

Combine with fat, as follows: Heat a large tablespoonful of olive oil or butter, mix with a tablespoonful of mixed flour, gradually add to it the hot pulp of the prunes while stirring, let boil three to five minutes.

GROUND DATES.

Remove the stones and prepare as above. Mix with ryenuts or orange juice. Serve with lettuce and sliced bananas or nuts.

GROUND DRIED PRUNES.

Prepare like figs. Mix with ryenuts. Serve with cream or with nuts and lettuce.

BAKED APPLES.

Wash and remove the core; then place in a baking tin, stem end down; pour over some water and a little sugar, if desired; bake in a moderate oven until tender. Let cool and serve plain with butter and bread or with whipped or sterilized cream.

BAKED PEACHES.

Prepare the same as baked apples, and serve with cream.

Hot house fruits out of season are health destroying. Certain fruits, such as apples, plums, tomatoes, apricots, grapes, figs, bananas and cranberries, will keep for a long time in the natural state, if properly preserved. Fresh fancy summer fruits are not required during the winter by healthy individuals, neither are canned fruits, jams or jellies.

AMBROSIA.

Mash baked apples very fine and rub through a colander. Mix with soaked or stewed raisins, if desired. Serve in place of apple sauce with beaten whites of egg or whipped cream and zwieback.

BAKED APPLES IN GELATINE.

Prepare in the usual way, pour some fruit or rye gelatine over them.

APPLE SAUCE. No. 1.

Wash some tart apples, cut into four pieces and remove the seeds; steep with a little water and sugar until tender. Then mash fine with a potato masher and run through a colander. Add a piece of butter while warm. Apple sauce prepared in this way is more wholesome than prepared from apples that have been peeled.

APPLE SAUCE. No. 2.

Soak some dried apples over night, steep for 30 to 40 minutes with a piece of cinnamon and a little sugar, and mash fine with a potato masher. Add a piece of butter. Let cool and serve with eggs, or cheese.

BANANA GELATINE.

Prepare some gelatine with orange, cranberry or lemon juice. When nearly cold, cut up some bananas and mix with the gelatine. Flavor and set on ice, serve with whipped or sterilized cream.

PINEAPPLE GELATINE.

Prepare some gelatine with lemon or orange juice. When nearly cold, add some fresh or canned pineapple. Serve with whipped or sterilized cream, and zwieback.

Dried sweet fruits are more wholesome than canned summer fruits. However, they should not be indulged in during hot summer days, or in the spring time when the brain needs relaxation.

APPLE SNOW.

Prepare some apple sauce from dried or fresh apples, run through a colander; when cool, mix with the snow of whites of eggs. Serve with zwieback.

APRICOT SNOW.

Prepare same as apple snow.

APRICOT SAUCE.

Wash some dried apricots thoroughly, cut into small pieces, soak over night, then simmer slowly until soft. Run through a colander and add a piece of fresh butter while warm. Serve with French toast, corn bread, corn cakes, steamed puddings or omelet.

GOOSEBERRY COMPOT.

Remove the stems, wash the berries and pour some boiling water on them. Let stand five minutes; then pour off the water and add fresh boiling water, a stick of cinnamon and the necessary amount of sugar. Thicken with cornstarch. Serve with unleavened pancakes.

GOOSEBERRY PUDDING.

Prepare the gooseberries in the same manner as for compot, but use more water. When done, strain and thicken with cornstarch. Let boil 10 to 15 minutes. Serve hot or cold with cream.

STEWED BLACKBERRIES.

Wash a pint of blackberries, put on to cook with two pints of boiling water and a stick of cinnamon. Let simmer slowly and add a few tablespoonfuls of sugar. When nearly done thicken with a little cornstarch. Cool and serve with milk rice, custard or pancakes.

STEWED HUCKLEBERRIES.

Prepare the same as stewed blackberries. Strain, if desired.

Fruits are an important article of diet, but few people know how to use them wisely. A large percentage of deaths in young children is due directly to the wrong use of fruits.

BAKED APPLES IN OIL.

Wash some tart apples, wipe and core them. Have some vegetable oil, boiling hot, drop in the apples and cook until tender. Let cool and reheat when needed.

STRAWBERRIES WITH WHIPPED CREAM.

Select fresh ripe berries and wash. Put the desired amount on flat medium sized plates. Beat up some cream with the whites of several eggs and a little powdered sugar. Cover the berries with the cream and serve with wafers or triscuit.

PEACHES AND PEARS WITH WHIPPED CREAM.

Peel and slice them. Prepare and serve the same as the foregoing. These dishes are not good for delicate stomachs.

FRUIT TAPIOCA.

Soak a cupful of plain tapioca in a pint of cold water over night, or for several hours. Cook in one pint of unfermented apple, grape or berry juice in a double boiler, add salt and sugar while boiling. Serve with sterilized cream. The tapioca may be cooked in water, adding salt and sugar, when cold add lemon juice and sliced pineapples, serve with whipped cream.

BLACKBERRY SAGO.

Boil one quart of blackberries with about two quarts of water and some sugar very slowly, then strain and cool, bring to a boil again, prepare with instantaneous tapioca or plain sago. The latter must be well soaked. Serve warm with zwieback or wafers and sweet butter.

APPLE SAGO.

Boil tart apples with the skin in plenty of water; when tender strain and cool. Reheat, flavor with cinnamon and sugar. Prepare with instantaneous tapioca or plain sago. After removing from the fire add orange juice, lemon, butter and the yolk of an egg or serve with sterilized cream.

People with a tendency to acid fermentation should not mix boiled cereals with fruits.

BERRY TAPIOCA.

Cook one quart of raspberries or blackberries with two quarts of water, a piece of cinnamon, add three-fourths to one cup of sugar, let boil slowly, then strain and cool. Reheat and prepare with instantaneous tapioca. Pour on a soup plate, pour sterilized cream over it. In cold weather, the cream as well as the tapioca should be served warm.

RHUBARB PUDDING.

Wash the stalks and cut off the green end. Cut the remainder in small pieces and steep in earthenware with a stick of cinnamon. When tender, strain and add the necessary amount of sugar. Dissolve some cornstarch, arrowroot or agar agar with cold water and stir into the fruit juice. Let boil 10 minutes and serve warm on soup plates with sterilized cream or put into molds and cool. If it is eaten warm, it is preferable to let the fruit juice cool first, then reheat and add the thickening.

APPLE PUDDING.

Save all the peeling from several days; add a few whole apples. Cook with water, strain and prepare like rhubarb pudding.

CURRANT, RASPBERRY OR PEACH PUDDING.

Prepare the same as the foregoing. If peaches or peach skins are used, do not press much of the pulp through. It is better to use more peeling than whole fruits. In serving peach or apple salad, the peelings can be saved from a day or two and preserved by stewing them in a little water until ready for use.

LEMON FILLING FOR PIE.

Stir the yolks of three eggs with one-half cup of sugar, add the grated rind and juice of two lemons or one lemon and one orange, then add two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch, one of butter and one and one-half cup of hot water. Stir in a double boiler over the fire until it is thick. Then pour it into the baked crust. Beat the whites with a tablespoon of sugar and a little lemon juice. Put over the top and brown in the oven.

PLAIN JUNKET.

Warm one pint of milk to blood heat, flavor as desired; stir in one junket tablet which has been dissolved in a little water and pour into a dish; set on ice. Serve with cranberry or prune sauce and wafers.

CRANBERRY SAUCE, STERILIZED.

Put one cup of cranberries into a pint jar, add two and one-half tablespoonfuls of sugar and sufficient water to fill the jar; screw tight and cook in a water bath for 40 minutes or longer. Let cool and run through a colander.

RHUBARB WINE.

Wash, and cut the red end of the plant into half inch pieces. Put into a Mason jar, fill with water, screw tight and set on a grate in a water bath. Cook 40 to 50 minutes. Raisin wine or any kind of berry juice may be prepared in the same manner. Sugar is not necessary. Stewed fruit prepared in this manner is more wholesome and requires less sugar than if cooked in the ordinary way. For fruit juice take one cup of fruit to one and a half or two of water.