Royal jelly

“ As jelly is considered more wholesome when not colored by any foreign substance, no directions will be given in the subsequent pages for coloring it. The palest amber jelly, clear and sparkling, flavored only by the grated rind and juice of a lemon 418 and pale Madeira or sherry wine, is not only the most beautiful, but the most palatable jelly that can be made. ”

“ Cold chickens, pigeons, and game, look very handsome in jelly. To make this jelly, take four calves-feet (with the skin on) and boil them to a strong jelly with an ounce of isinglass and three quarts of water, carefully skimming off the fat. The calves-feet must be boiled the day before the jelly is wanted, and when it is cold scrape off all the sediment that adheres to it. Then boil the jelly with the addition of the whites and shells of six eggs, the juice of three lemons, three or four sticks of cinnamon, half a pound of loaf-sugar, and a pint of Malaga or other sweet wine. ”

“ Some think that jelly eats best in the rough, not out of a mould.—Another: boil 4 feet in 21⁄2 quarts of water, boil twelve hours, or till all their goodness is extracted. The next day remove all fat as well as sediment, put the jelly into a saucepan with 11⁄2 pint of sherry or Marsala, the peel and juice of 7 lemons, and sugar to your taste. Finish in the same way as directed above, and when strained, add a wine-glassful of Champagne brandy. You may add 1 oz. isinglass to make the jelly very stiff, but some object to this, as it makes it tough as well as stiff. ”

“ When it is perfectly congealed, dip the mould for an instant in boiling water to loosen the jelly. Turn it out on a glass dish.
This quantity of ingredients will make a quart of jelly when finished. In cool weather it may be made a day or two before it is wanted.
You may increase the seasoning, (that is, the wine, lemon, and cinnamon,) according to your taste, but less than the above proportion will not be sufficient to flavour the jelly.
BLANCMANGE
Four calf's-feet. ”

“ Squeeze them through a fine cloth, and add to every quart of juice a pound and a half of loaf sugar broken into small pieces. Stir it till the sugar is melted; when it boils skim it quite clean. Boil it pretty quick over a clear fire, till it jellies, which is known by dipping a skimmer into the jelly and holding it in the air; when it hangs to the spoon in a drop, it is done. If the jelly is boiled too long it will lose its flavour and shrink very much. Pour it into pots, cover them with brandy papers, and keep them in a dry place. ”

“ It is very good to those who like it; and it is decidedly better than none. So are blackberry pies and puddings. But, if the jam be the lowest of jams, the jelly is the highest of jellies—of fruit jellies. Blackberry jelly is truly a dainty, not only good for sore throats and hoarsenesses, but a dainty sweet with cream, or on puffs. So Harry and his party are to bring home a vast crop;* the elder ones being always careful to gather only those which grow out of reach of the poor children who have a sort of natural right to all wild good things that they can lay hands on. ”

“ On fine summer nights, a soft, tender light plays round the boat as it moves onward, and the oars drop liquid fire. For how much of beauty are we indebted to these living specks of jelly?
Of the extreme minuteness of some of the species, an idea may be formed from the fact, that 110,000 might be contained in a cubic foot of water. We can say nothing with certainty as to the cause of the phosphorescence of the medusæ, and shall not trouble our readers with mere speculations.
The jelly-fishes furnish us with a striking illustration of the profusion of life in the ocean. ”

“ The juice, like red currant juice, can be boiled with a large quantity of white sugar till the jelly sets of its own accord; in this case we should require one pound of sugar to every pint of juice, and the result would be a blackberry jelly like red currant jelly, more like a preserve than the jelly we are accustomed to eat at dinner alone. For instance, no one would care to eat a quantity of red currant jelly like we should ordinary orange or lemon jelly—it would be too sickly ”

“ The fruit is only intended as an ornament. A jelly that is quite as pretty may be made by using clusters of red and white, or red, white, and black currants. The red and white ones should have two or three young leaves attached, and each cluster be perfect; no black-currant leaves must be used, as they have a strong flavor.
Jelly with Candied Fruits.—Make a quart of maraschino jelly, which is done by omitting the rum, lemon, and cinnamon from the last recipe, and using in place of rum a gill of maraschino, and water in place of lemon juice. ”

“ Elizabeth Ann and Doris thought the jelly was the best they had ever tasted. And while Mrs. Lawton wrote “Grape Jelly” on a lot of little red and white labels and pasted them on the glasses she had filled, Elizabeth Ann told her about the jam and jelly she had seen in the cellar of the restaurant; also how the strange woman had mistaken her for Esther, and had punished her with the ruler. ”

“ This they can do easily, because the jelly-fish has no jacket of shell or bone like the lobster, nor any skin like a fish, and so always has to swim naked, exposed to all kinds of danger. Sometimes great jelly-fishes, two or three feet in diameter, sail gaily along near the shore, as proud as the long-handled-umbrella of a daimiō, and as brilliantly colored as a Japanese parasol. Floating all around their bodies, like the streamers of a temple festival, or a court lady's ribbons, are their long tentacles or feelers. ”

“ Cook the fruit till tender in a little water; throw off the water, bruise and strain the fruit, and to each pint of the juice add one pound of white sugar. Put it now in a preserving-pan, and boil it rapidly, but do not stir it while boiling, as that breaks the jelly; skim it carefully, and when it jellies, pour it into tumblers or small jars. I have made two pecks of berries into jelly in two hours. This is said for the benefit of young housekeepers who often boil their jelly too slowly and too long, which makes it ropy. ”

“ To a pint of pulp take four eggs, beat the yolks light with three cups of sugar and a cup of creamed butter, add the quince pulp, a little mace broken small or grated nutmeg, then half a cup of cream, and the egg-whites beaten stiff. Bake in a deep pan, and serve hot with hard or wine sauce.
Here are some fine points of jelly-making learned in that long ago. To make the finest, clearest jelly, cook but little at a time. A large kettleful will never have the color and brightness of two or three glasses. ”

“ When it has boiled till it looks quite clear on one side, and the dross accumulates on the other, take off carefully the thickest part of the dross, and pour the jelly in the bag; put back what runs through, until it becomes quite transparent—then set a pitcher under the bag, and put a cover all over to keep out the dust: the jelly looks much prettier when it is broken to fill the glasses. ”

“ In the recipes which I give hereafter I have made a point of showing how melting jellies may be obtained, i.e., served in a sauce-boat simultaneously with the cold comestible, or actually poured over it when the latter lies in a deep dish—a common custom nowadays.
This method of serving cold entrées, which I inaugurated at the Savoy Hotel with the “Suprême de Volaille Jeannette,” is the only one which allows of serving a jelly in a state of absolute perfection. ”

“ Cook the fruit only until the skin is broken and pulp softened. Strain without squeezing for jelly, and use the last juice you squeeze out for jam. Measure the juice and boil uncovered, skimming off. For sweet fruits 3/4 of a pound of sugar is enough to a pint of juice. Heat the sugar in the oven, add to the boiling juice; stir till dissolved. When it boils up, draw to the back of the stove. Scald the jelly glasses, fill and let stand in a clean, cool place till next day; then cover. Blackberries make jelly of a delicious flavor and jelly easily when a little underripe. ”

“ A wholesome jelly may be obtained by boiling a large portion of blanched oats, with some harts-horn shavings and currants, together with a leg of veal cut to pieces, and the bones of which are broken. These ingredients are to be boiled or stewed over the fire, in a sufficient quantity of water, till the whole be reduced to a kind of jelly, which, when strained, and suffered to grow cold, will become firm and elastic. ”

“ In Sweden, however, large quantities are yearly made into jelly, which is eaten as a sauce with all kinds of meat, being even preferred by many to currant jelly. Shut into a close vessel, and placed in a cellar, they keep well for a long time, and the wine-makers of Paris preserve them thus from June until vintage time, using them then to give colour to their grape juice—a practice harmless, at least so long as they confine themselves to the use of this species ”

“ Sometimes ladies complain that, for some inexplicable reason, they cannot make their currant jelly harden. The true reason was doubtless this,—that while making it, it was suffered to stop boiling for a few minutes. Let it boil gently but steadily, until by taking a little of it into a cold silver spoon, you perceive that it quickly hardens around the edges. A practised eye will readily judge by the movement of the liquid as it boils. Put jelly in little jars, cups, or tumblers; when it is cold, paste paper over the top and brush it over with white of egg. ”

“ The present product of this manufactory is from 1,500 to 1,800 pounds of jelly each day of ten hours. It is calculated that improvements now in progress will increase this to something more than a ton per day. Each bushel of fruit will produce from four to five pounds of jelly, fruit ripening late in the season being more productive than earlier varieties. Crab apples produce the finest jelly; sour, crabbed, natural fruit makes the best looking article, and a mixture of all varieties gives most satisfactory results as to flavor and general quality. ”

“ Because if there is anything on top of this green earth that I think is just about right, it is currant jelly. Grape jelly is nice, and crab-apple jelly has its good points, and quince jelly is very delicate, but there is something about currant jelly that seems to touch the spot. Quince preserves are good if there is enough apple with the quince, and watermelon preserves are a great favorite, not because they are so much better tasting, but because the lucent golden cubes in the spicy syrup appeal so to the eye. ”

“ Prepare Fruit: Select fully ripe fruit. Wash, then prepare exactly as recipe directs. If fruit lacks tartness add 1⁄4 cup lemon juice when adding sugar. For separating juice for jelly, use 1-yard square of Canton flannel, spread over colander. Place prepared fruit in cloth, bring corners together and twist while pressing down on bag. To make jellies from dripped juice, use twice amount of fruit called for in recipe.
2. Prepare Glasses: Wash, scald, and drain the glasses and tin covers needed, and melt paraffin in a small pot over hot water while making jelly or jam. ”

“ The glasses were then placed in a sunny window, and, when cold, Adelaide wiped each glass around the top and on the outside with a damp cloth, poured melted paraffin over the jelly, shook it gently from side to side to exclude air, pasted on the labels and stored the jelly away in the preserve closet in the space allotted for jellies.
Crab Apple Jelly
The crab apples make a very handsome jelly, and as they are very small, mother did not think two dozen would be too many for Adelaide to prepare. ”

“ The jelly has a wild tang in it, an indescribable piquancy of flavor as different from common apple jelly as the flowers are in their way more charming than ordinary appleblossoms. It is the rare gamy taste of a primitive apple. ”

“ A little sherry and sugar may be added. For infants, a drop or two of the essence of caraway seed or cinnamon is preferable.
2131. An Excellent Jelly
(
For the Sick room.
) —Take rice, sago, pearl-barley, hartshorn shavings, each one ounce; simmer with three pints of water to one, and strain it. When cold, it will be a jelly, which give, dissolved in wine, milk, or broth, in change with the other nourishment.
2132. Calves' Feet Jelly
It is better to buy the feet of the butcher, than at the tripe-shop ready boiled, because the best portion of the jelly has been extracted. ”

“ If convenient, put it in ice until required for table, then wring a cloth in boiling water, wrap it round the mould for a minute, and turn the jelly carefully out. Peaches, apricots, plums, apples, &c., are better for being boiled in a little clear syrup before they are laid in the jelly; strawberries, raspberries, grapes, cherries, and currants are put in raw. In winter, when fresh fruits are not obtainable, a very pretty jelly may be made with preserved fruits or brandy cherries: these, in a bright and clear jelly, have a very pretty effect ”

“ Pudding à la Reine.— Set a border form into cracked ice and pour in to the depth of about 1⁄2 inch some white wine jelly; when the jelly is firm put in some fruit, such as strawberries, cherries, plums or peaches, and pour over a few spoonfuls jelly; after the lapse of 5 minutes pour in more jelly; when firm put in another layer of fruit and then fill the form with jelly; let it remain on the ice till ready to serve; pare and cut into slices 12 large, ripe peaches, sprinkle thickly with sugar and let them stand 1 hour ”