STEWED PEARS.—­Select some fine Bartlett pears which are ripe, but have hardly begun to soften; remove the skins, cut in halves or quarters, and take out the seeds.  Put loosely in a granite-ware kettle, and add a pint of water for three and a half quarts of fruit.  Cover closely, and when it begins to boil, set it where it will just simmer until the top pieces are tender.  Serve cold.  Sugar will not be necessary if the fruit is of good quality.

SMOOTH APPLE SAUCE.—­If fruit is not sufficiently perfect to be cut into uniform quarters, a good way to prepare it is to pare, core, and slice into thin slices.  Cook in as small a quantity of water as possible, the fruit covered closely, so that the top portion will steam tender as soon as the bottom, and when done rub through a colander, or beat smooth with a wooden spoon or an egg beater.  Let it cool before adding sugar.  A little lemon peel may be added to the fruit just long enough before it is done to flavor it, if desired.

BOILED APPLES WITH SYRUP.—­Halve and remove the cores of a half dozen nice apples, leaving the skins on.  Boil till tender in sufficient water to cover them.  Take out with a fork into a glass dish.  Add to the juice three or four slices of a large lemon; boil for ten or fifteen minutes; sweeten to taste; then pour over the apples, and cool.

STEWED APPLES.—­Select fine fruit of a sub-acid flavor and not over-ripe.  Pare, remove the cores and all blemishes, and divide into sixths if large, into quarters if small.  Put into a porcelain or granite-ware kettle with enough boiling water to cook and leave a good liquor.  Cover, and simmer gently, without stirring, from one to two hours.  Do not add sugar till cold.  Be careful not to break the fruit in serving.

STEWED CRAB APPLES.—­Select perfect fruit.  Wash and stew in but little water until they are very soft.  Rub through a coarse sieve or colander to remove the seeds and skins.  Sweeten to taste.

SWEET APPLE SAUCE WITH CONDENSED APPLE JUICE.—­For the juice, wash, divide, and core rather tart apples and cook until softened with one cup of water for every six pounds of fruit.  When soft, put into a percolater and drain off the juice or extract it with a fruit press.  Boil until it is reduced one half.  Skim if needed while boiling, and if not perfectly clear allow it to settle before using.  A considerable quantity of the juice may be thus prepared and put into stone jars, to be used as needed.  For the sauce, pare, core, and quarter sweet apples.  Put into a porcelain kettle with enough of the condensed juice to cover.  Cook slowly until tender.

APPLES WITH RAISINS.—­Pare, core, and quarter a dozen or more medium sized sour apples.  Clean thoroughly one fourth as many raisins as apples, and turn over them a quart of boiling water.  Let them steep until well swollen, then add the apples, and cook until tender.  Sugar to sweeten may be added if desired, although little will be needed unless the apples are very tart.  Dried apples soaked over night may be made much more palatable by stewing with raisins or English currants, in the same way.