Blackberry Mincemeat

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 36, 1 March 1940, Page 44

Blackberry Mincemeat

This is a good way to preserve blackberries, and makes lovely mince pies for the winter. Put 4 lbs. of blackberries in a saucepan with the strained juice of two lemons and a teacupful of cold water, Simmer the fruit till it is tender, then pass through a sieve. Peel, core and chop eight large cooking apples, add a little grated ’ lemon rind, 4 ounces each of raisins, currants, sultcnas, candied peel, and sweet almonds. Also add half an ounce of ground ginger, half a teaspoonful each of ground cinnamon and ground cloves, and 1 pound of sugar. Stir well into the blackberry pulp, put into jars and seal.

(Continued from previous page) Wounds, on account of its sterility, and it is particularly soothing and effective when applied to burns — which is a g00d "hint" for peorle who live far from chemists. Here are the directizns for its use in cooking: Honey in Jam When making jam, crush the fruit slightly, using three-quarters of a cupful of honey to one cup‘ul of fruit. Add half of the honey to the fruit. Stir it well, and allow to stand for one hour. Heat rather slowly, stirring constantly. Boil for ten minutes, then add the remainder of the honey, and boil as usual -very fast indeed, until it sets when tested. Jam retains its co'our and flavour far better when cooked as rapidly as cen be done without burning. Honey in Jelly In making jelly, use half honey and half sugar, in the usual proportion. Extract the juice of the fruits in the usual

manner, being sure to cook all skins and cores until every bit of jelly substance has been extracted. Then boil the juice ten minutes, add the sugar, and bring it to boiling point. Then add the honey and cook until it will set. Remove the scum and pour the jelly into hot’ sterilised glasses. Cover with wax. Honey in Recipes Besides sugar in honey, there is a certain amount of water. Therefore in using honey as a substitute for sugar, use one-fifth of a cupful less of any liquid called for in the recipe. If this rule is kept in mind, any ordinary recipe may be easily modified to use honey. Fruit Stains Dear Aunt Daisy,-I was unfortunate enough to. get juice from a ripe apricot on-a navy georgette coat. It has left an ugly brown mark. Could you please let me know what to do to remove it? The coat is new, and I am worried about. it.-‘‘ Huapai,"’ (North Auckland).

It is indeed a worry to have a new coat spoilt like that. An excellent way of removing fruit stains is with a paste made of powdered starch and _ cold water; or Fuller’s Earth and cold water. Leave the paste on for some hours before lifting it off with a blunt knife, or something like that; and then sponge the place with a cool soap jelly made with soap flakes; and afterwards rinse off with clear water. Put a thick pad of towelling under the material to absorb all the mo’sture. If you have a Spare piece of material, try it first with the treatment, just to make sure that the starch comes out of the georgette easily. It ought to be all right, when rinsed, dried, and carefully pressed with not too hot an iron. Glycerine is another good thing for removing fruit | stains. Pour some into a saucer ot little | dish, and soak the stain for several hours; afterwards sponging with cool, thick, soapy water, and rinsing as kefore. Another remedy is methylated spiritsthe clear kind bought from chemists; washing afterwards as usual. If you are sure that the colour is fast, a drop or two of ammonia in the soapy water is good; but georgette is rather a tricky material to deal with. Perhaps some other link in the Daisy. Chain could suggest a treatment, or give us her experience. / / Septic Fingers Dear Aunt Daisy,-The other day you were speaking about septic fingers. Did you ever hear of the totlowing remedy? I know of two cases which were cured this way, so I thought Id pass it on, as it may be a heip to some poor sutterer. ) Take a small enamelled mug, and about | half-fill it with new milk, straight from | the cow if possible. Put the mug on tLe stove, and make it very hot, but not boiling. Then..take it off and add as much alum as will go on a threepenny piece. Allow it to cool enough to make a poultice. Put this on the fingers, and keep it on all night. Repeat as often as necessary. I hope this will be a help to some of your listeners.-‘ Dorothy of Roto-o-rangi,’ (Cambridge). Many thanks, Dorothy. It was good of you to send in the remedy. So many people do suffer with septic fingers, and find it a real misery to have to do their housework — which nearly always involves putting one’s hands in water a dozen times a day. Another very good remedy is to mix together equal parts of zinc ointment, powdered alum, and boracic powder — say a teaspoonful of each. Apply this all round the fingers at bedtime. No rags need be used, Still another remedy is to dip the nail for a minute or two in castor oil, and then put on plenty of dry boracic powder. This also is done at bedtime.