Cut off the rind of a pineapple, core and trim out all the eyes. Cut into desired slices. Set on to boil with half a pound of sugar, and the juice of one or two tart oranges. When the pineapple is tender and clear, put into a compote dish and boil the syrup until clear. Pour over all and cool. The addition of a winegla.s.s of brandy improves this compote very much.

COMPOTE OF PEARS

It is not necessary to take a fine quality of pears for this purpose.

Pare the fruit, leaving on the stems, and stew in sugar and a very little water. Flavor with stick cinnamon and a few cloves (take out the head of each clove) and when soft place each pear carefully on a platter until cold. Then arrange them nicely in a gla.s.s bowl or flat gla.s.s dish, the stems all on the outer rim. Pour over them the sauce, which should be boiled thick like syrup. Eat cold.

HUCKLEBERRY COMPOTE

Pick over a quart of huckleberries or blueberries, wash them and set to boil. Do not add any water to them. Sweeten with half a cup of sugar, and spice with half a teaspoon of cinnamon. Just before removing from the fire, add a teaspoon of cornstarch which has been wet with a little cold water. Do this thoroughly in a cup and stir with a teaspoon so as not to have any lumps in it. Pour into a gla.s.s bowl. Eat cold.

RHUBARB SAUCE

Strip the skin off the stalks with care, cut them into small pieces, put into a saucepan with very little water, and stew slowly until soft.

Sweeten while hot, but do not boil the sugar with the fruit. Eat cold.

Very wholesome.

BAKED RHUBARB

Peel and cut into two-inch lengths three bunches of rhubarb. Dredge with flour and put in baking dish with one cup of sugar sprinkled over. Bake in moderate oven three-quarters of an hour. Very nice served hot as a vegetable, or cold as a sauce.

FIG SAUCE

Stew figs slowly for two hours, until soft; sweeten with loaf sugar, about two tablespoons to a pound of fruit; add a gla.s.s of port or other wine and a little lemon juice. Serve when cold.

DRIED FRUITS

To cook dried fruits thoroughly they should after careful washing be soaked overnight. Next morning put them over the fire in the water in which they have been soaked; bring to a boil; then simmer slowly until the fruit is thoroughly cooked but not broken. Sweeten to taste. Very much less sugar will be needed than for fresh fruit.

STEWED PRUNES

Cleanse thoroughly, soak in water ten or twelve hours, adding a little granulated sugar when putting to soak, for although the fruit is sweet enough, yet experience has shown that the added sugar changes by chemical process into fruit sugar and brings out better the flavor of the fruit. After soaking, the fruit will a.s.sume its full size, and is ready to be simmered on the back of the stove. Do not boil prunes, that is what spoils them. Simmer, simmer only. Keep lid on. Shake gently, do not stir, and never let boil. When tender they are ready for table.

Serve cold, and a little cream will make them more delicious. A little claret or sauterne poured over the prunes just as cooking is finished adds a flavor relished by many. Added just before simmering, a little sliced lemon or orange gives a rich color and flavor to the syrup.

BAKED PRUNES

Cook prunes in an earthenware bean pot in the oven. Wash and soak the prunes and put them in the pot with a very little water; let them cook slowly for a long time. They will be found delicious, thick and rich, without any of the objectionable sweetness. Lemon, juice and peel, may be added if desired.

PRUNES WITHOUT SUGAR

Wash prunes thoroughly, pour boiling water over same and let them stand for ten minutes. Then drain and pour boiling water over them again; put in sealed jar; see that prunes are all covered with water. Ready for use after forty-eight hours. Will keep for a week at a time and the longer they stand the thicker the syrup gets.

STEAMED PRUNES

Steam until the fruit is swollen to its original size and is tender.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and squeeze lemon juice over them.

PRUNE SOUFFLe

Remove the pits from a large cup of stewed prunes and chop fine. Add the whites of three eggs and a half cup of sugar beaten to a stiff froth.

Mix well, turn into a b.u.t.tered dish and bake thirty minutes in a moderate oven. Serve with whipped cream. If it is desired to cook this in individual cups, b.u.t.ter the cups, fill only two-thirds full, to allow for puffing up of the eggs, and set the cup a in a pan of water to bake.

Some like a dash of cinnamon in this.

SWEET ENTReE OF RIPE PEACHES

Take large, solid peaches, pour boiling water over them so that the skin may be removed smoothly. Have ready thick syrup made of sugar and water.

When boiling hot add peaches and boil about five minutes; remove and place in ice chest. When ready to serve have a sweet cracker on dish, place peach on same and pour over this a raspberry jelly slightly thinned and cover all with salted almonds or walnuts. Other fruits may be treated in like manner.

*MEHLSPEISE (FLOUR FOODS)*

NOODLES

Beat three whole eggs very light and sift in sufficient flour to make a stiff paste. Work until smooth, break off a piece and roll out on board very thin. Break oft another piece and roll and continue until all is used. Let rolled-out dough dry, then cut all except one piece in long strips one inch wide. Fold the one piece in layers and cut very fine noodles. Boil large noodles in pot of salted boiling water, drain in colander when tender and stir in two tablespoons of b.u.t.ter. Heat a tablespoon of b.u.t.ter in the frying-pan and brown fine noodles in this b.u.t.ter. Sprinkle these over the broad noodles, pour a cup of milk over the whole and brown in stove. Serve in same dish in which it was baked.

BROAD NOODLES

Make noodles as above and when drained sprinkle with fine noodles which have been browned in two tablespoons of sweet dripping; serve as a vegetable. If so desired, a cup of soup stock may be added and noodles browned in stove. Serve hot.

NOODLES WITH b.u.t.tER

Plunge one pound of noodles into two quarts of boiling water and cook for fifteen minutes. Drain well, replace in the same pan, season with one-half teaspoon of salt, two teaspoons of white pepper, adding one ounce good b.u.t.ter. Gently mix without breaking the noodles until the b.u.t.ter is thoroughly dissolved, and serve.

NOODLES WITH CHEESE

If you make the noodles at home, use two eggs for the dough; if you buy macaroni use one-quarter of a pound, cut up and boil in salt water; boil about fifteen minutes; drain off the water and let cold water run through them; grate a cup of cheese; melt a piece of fresh b.u.t.ter, about the size of an egg, in a saucepan, stir in a heaping tablespoon of flour, add gradually to this a pint of rich milk, stirring constantly; take from the fire as it thickens. b.u.t.ter a pudding dish, lay in a layer of noodles, then cheese, then sauce, then begin with noodles again until all is used up. Sprinkle cheese on top, a few cracker crumbs and flakes of b.u.t.ter here and there. Bake until brown.

NOODLES AND APPLES

Peel and cut six apples. Take broad noodles made out of three eggs, boil them fifteen minutes, drain, then mix with two tablespoons of fresh b.u.t.ter. Add some cinnamon and sugar to noodles. Put a layer of noodles, then apples and so on until pan is filled, being careful to have noodles on top. Put bits of fresh b.u.t.ter on top. Bake until apples are tender.