CANNED STRING BEANS

Aunt Sarah used no preservative when canning beans.  She gathered the beans when quite small and tender, no thicker than an ordinary lead-pencil, washed them thoroughly, cut off ends and packed them into quart glass jars, filled to overflowing with cold water.  Placed jar tops on lightly, and stood them in wash boiler in the bottom of which several boards had been placed.  Filled wash boiler with luke warm water about two-thirds as high as tops of jars, cooked continuously three to four hours after water commenced to boil.  Then carefully lifted jars from wash boiler, added boiling water to fill jars to overflowing, screwed on cover and let stand until perfectly cold, when give jar tops another turn with the hand when they should be air-tight.  A good plan is to run the dull edge of a knife around the outer edge of the jar to be sure it fits close to the rubber, and will not admit air.  Beans canned in this manner should keep indefinitely.

PRESERVED “GERMAN PRUNES” OR PLUMS

After washing fruit, piece each plum several times with a silver fork, if plums be preserved whole.  This is not necessary if pits are removed.  Weigh fruit and to each pound of plums take about 3/4 pound of granulated sugar.  Place alternate layers of plums and sugar in a preserving kettle, stand on the back of range three or four hours, until sugar has dissolved, then draw kettle containing sugar and plums to front of range and boil so minutes.  Remove scum which arises on top of boiling syrup.  Place plums in glass jars, pour boiling syrup over and seal.

A good rule is about four pounds of sugar to five pounds of plums.

Should plums cook soft in less than 20 minutes, take from syrup with a perforated skimmer, place in jars and cook syrup until as thick as honey; then pour over fruit and seal up jars.

BUCKS COUNTY APPLE BUTTER

A genuine old-fashioned recipe for apple butter, as “Aunt Sarah” made it at the farm.  A large kettle holding about five gallons was filled with sweet cider.  This cider was boiled down to half the quantity.  The apple butter was cooked over a wood fire, out of doors.  The cider was usually boiled down the day before making the apple butter, as the whole process was quite a lengthy one.  Fill the kettle holding the cider with apples, which should have been pared and cored the night before at what country folks call an “apple bee,” the neighbors assisting to expedite the work.  The apples should be put on to cook as early in the morning as possible and cooked slowly over not too hot a fire, being stirred constantly with a long-handled “stirrer” with small perforated piece of wood on one end.  There is great danger of the apple butter burning if not carefully watched and constantly stirred.  An extra pot of boiling cider