GRAPES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 303, 13 April 1945, Page 22

GRAPES

RAPES are more plentiful than usual this year, so that there is quite a demand for recipes for their use in preserves; and also as juice for a delicious drink, with the addition of hot or cold water. Grane Juice Fill pan with grapes. Put a little water to start off with and as the fruit boils crush with potato masher. Boil well, Strain 12 to 24 hours. Boil up again and bottle at once in hot sterilized bottles. No sugar. Be sure to make thoroughly airtight. Grape and Apple Jam To one pound of grapes allow 3lb. of apples and 3421b. sugar. Barely cover grapes with water and boil till soft, pressing out juice well. Then strain through muslin. If allowed to stand some hours before straining, more flavour is kept in. It can be warmed again to make the straining quicker if necessary. Peel and mince the apples, and cook in the strained grape-juice till soft. Add the sugar, stir till quite dissolved, and then boil fast till it will set. when tested. Use the apple skins rand cores for jelly. Grape Jam Two pounds grapes, 134lb. sugar, 1 teacup water. Cook grapes and water slowly, pressing and stirring with wooden spoon, until soft. Add warmed sugar, stir till thoroughly dissolved, and then boil fast until it will set when tested. Strain through sieve to get out skins and seeds. The juice of a lemon added the last 10 minutes or so adds to the flavour and helps it to set. Grape Jelly Only three-parts cover the grapes with water; boil to!a mash. Leave standing till nearly cold, to allow for more flavour. Then strain through double muslin: Bring juice to boil and boil for 15 minutes. Then add ¥2 cup sugar to each cup of juice. Stir till thoroughly dissolved. Then boil fast till it will set when tested. Spiced Grape Jelly (American) Cook 3lb. grapes with 42 cup vinegar, a dessertspoon of cloves, and some pieces of stick cinnamon, tied loosely in a mus‘lin bag. If obliged to use powdered cloves and cinnamon, it will spoil the colour, but the flavour will be all right. Or the essences could be used. When cooked to a mash, strain and proceed as for grape jelly. MEASURING ERE are some good rules for measuring flour and sugar, and even shortening. They were given me by Miss Katherine Fisher, of the Good Housekeeping Institute in New York. In Measuring Flour Sift all flours except whole-wheat, rye, er bran. IMMEDIATELY BEFORE MEASURING, because flour packs in standing, and one cup of unsifted flour, for example, may amount to 1% to 1%4 cups of sifted flour.

After sifting, use either of the following mettiods of measuring the flour: sift the flour directly into the measuring cup without jarring or tapping, and then level it off with the edge of a kitchen knife or spatula. Or dip up heaping spoonfuls of the sifted flour, place them lightly in the cup, fill to slightly overflowing without jarring or tapping, and then level off as above. Never dip the measuring cup into the flour and never tap the cup as you fill it-for then the flour will pack down and your measuring will be inaccurate and your results uncertain. In Measuring Sugar Sift granulated, confectioners’ and powdered sugar before measuring if there are lumps. Then measure as directed for flour. With brown sugar, roll out any lumps with a rolling pin before measuring, then pack it down solidly in the cup. In Measuring Shortening Shortening is not always easy to measure accurately, especially if the fat is very hard. It must be packed into the cup so firmly that there are no air spaces. To level off the top, use the edge of the knife. Both the packing and levelling off of fat such as butter will be much easier if it is taken out of the refrigerator an hour or so before using, if it is winter, or a few minutes before using, if it is summer. A quick way to measure shorteningsay % cupful-is by the water displacement method. It works as follows: for % cup shortening, fill the one-cup measuring cup half full of cold water, and add shortening, always pushing it under the water until the water is exr*' at the one cup level. Then pour off the water, and use the ¥% cup of shortening that remains. This method may be used when, measuring any other fraction of a cup.