TOMATOES lend themselves to such an infinite variety of delicious preserves, conserves and relishes, that every house-wife should have a plentiful store of them on her shelves for the winter supply. Both, the red and green varieties, can be bought so cheaply and so many suburbanites have them ripening in their own gardens that it is a simple matter to put up a few jars at a time without unduly taxing the housewife's time or energy. In the following, tested recipes will be founds, some old-inshioned favorites, as well as some novel formulas:
Green Tomato Preserve
To ten pounds of green tomatoes, sliced thin, add one cupful of water, six unpeeled lemons thinly sliced and with the pirs removed, and a small box of preserved ginger. Turn the ingredients into a preserving bottle and let boil for half an hour. Add eight pounds of sugar and let all boil slowly on the back of the range or over a moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the syrup is very thick. A small handful of dry ginger roots can be used in place of the preserved ginger. Let the dry ginger roots stand over night in cold water, then slice and add to the tomatoes. Seal airtight in heated Jars,
Tomato Marmalade
Peel four quarts of ripe tomatoes and cut the pulp in thin slices. Cut six lemons in halve lengthwise, then slice exceedingly thin. Put the tomatoes, lemons and one pound of seeded raisins in layers in a preserving kettle, alternating with layers of granulated sugar. Use four pounds of sugar. Boil for one hour and then let simmer until the mixture is of the consistency of marmalade. Store as for jelly. This quantity gives about two and a half quarts of marmalade, and it is very inexpensive.
Tomato Butter
Take ten pounds of ripe tomatoes, skinned; four pounds of granulated sugar, three pounds of tart cooking apples, one quart of moderately strong vinegar, half an ounce of stick cinnamon, half an ounce of ginger, one-fourth of an ounce of mace and one-fourth of an ounce of whole cloves. Tie the spices in a cheesecloth bag, put the other ingredients late a preserving kettle, add the spices, and boil all for three hours over a moderate heat. Stir frequently. Less vinegar may be used to suit the individual taste.
Ripe Tomato Conserve
Remove the skin from twelve large tomatoes, then cut the flesh in small pieces. Weigh the tomatoes, and take three quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of the prepared vegetables. Add the juice of foor lemons and three oranges, two level teaspoonsful of cinnamon amd half a teaspoonful of cloves. Let cook slowly until quite thick, and when nearly done add two cupsful of seeded raisins and half a pound each of candied orange peel and candied ginger, cut in tiny strips Seal like jelly.
Tomato Jelly
Cut tomatoes that are a little underripe in quarters or thick slice, let cook in double boiler or over a slow fire until soft throughout, then drain in a jelly bac. Let drain without pressure, or too much pulp for a clear jelly will come through. For each quart of juice add the thin yellow rind and the juice of a large lemon. Let boil for twenty minutes; add a cupful of heated sugar for each cupful of juice and let cook until a little "jells" when tried on a cold saucer. If the tomatoes are very ripe, honey rather than jelly will result.
Sweet Tomato Relish
Use one peck of preen tomatoes and ten large white onions. Slice with an even thickness the tomatoes and the onions. Place a layer of tomatoes, generously deep, in an earthen crock; next a layer of onions, with liberal sprinklings of salt. When all are used, rover and weight heavily. Let stand over night. In the morning drain and rinse with clear, cold water; then place in a large kettle, in layers, with three large cupsful of brown sugar, two teaspoonsful each of mace, allspice, ground cloves and celery seed, and one of ground cinnamon. Add sufficient vinegar to give the relish a palatable taste, and boil down until the syrup is quite thick. Seal airtight in hot, steril ized jars, like canned fruit.
Tomato Honey
This is delicious with hot biscuits or to use on griddle cakes and waffles. To each pound of tomatoes allow the grated rind of a lemon. Cut the tomatoes in small pieces, add the rind and let cook until the water is almost evaporated. Be careful that it does not burn. Strain through a fino sieve. Measure the pulp, and for each pint take a pound of sugar and the juice of the lemon. Let all cook together very quickly until quite thick, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Store like jelly.
Tomato Paste
Cut the ripe tomatoes in half and discard as many seeds as possible. Set to cook in a granite ware saucepan over a slow fire or in the upper part of a large double boiler and boil until very thick. Press the tomatoes through a sieve sufficiently fine to keep back the seeds and add a teaspoonful of salt to each quart of strained material. Fill into half-pint sterilized jars, adjust the rubber rings and the covers loosely and set the jars on a rack in the boiler with water almost covering them. Let boil for one hour, then re move and tighten the rover?. It will take from two to three quarts of tomatoes to make enough paste to fill one half-pint jar. This paste is used in salad dressing, sauces and soups, and a very little goes a long way.
Tomato Figs
Yellow, pear-shaped tomatoes are best for this sweetmeat, but any small tomatoes will answer. Dip them in a wire basket into boiling water, let stand for a minute, then remove and peal. To five pounds of tomatoes allow two pounds of brown sugar. Sprinkle some of the sugar in a broad agate pan, dispose a layer of the tomatoes above the sugar, then a layer of sugar and another layer of the vegetable. Allow the sugar to melt over a very moderate heat and simmrr slowly until the sugar penetrates the tomatoes and they look clear. Remove to a platter and let dry in the hot sunshine. Baste orcassionally with the thick syrup while the "figs" are drying.
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