Mother's Preserving Hint

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 91, 21 March 1941, Page 46

Mother's Preserving Hint

Dear Aunt Daisy, Here is a hint that I’ve carried out ever since I was a child, and my mother before me. I say "since I was a child" quite truly, as, since I was thirteen, I’ve had to keep house; but mine was a good old fashioned mother, who made and used up everything that came to hand, and showed me the way to do likewise-not that there is the need with so many work-aids on the market. Well, my hint is this-before putting the jars away paste paper over the tops like you do jam. I have found that sometimes the acid from the fruit eats pin-holes in the metal tops, not sufficient to cause a leak, perhaps, but enough to cause an air cell, and before the fruit can be used it may be fermented. For years I entered fruit and jam shows, and one year the judge asked why I did this. I thought it would be points against me, but no! It was all right. In fact, the judge was giving a talk to a Women’s Institute gathering later, and in her talk she mentioned my little trick and said she thought it good,

and "passed it on." The paper, well pasted over with flour-and-water paste, prevents air getting in, even if pin-holes do develop, and saves disappointment over lost fruit. Is it worth passing on?

I trust SO.

Just Another Daisy

(Petone).

Very good-thank you, Daisy.