The Boon Of An Apple Barrel

The  housewife who has been careful to add to her winter stores a barrel of apples, for all winter long almost till strawberries are cheap has the wherewithal for most wholesome and appetizing dishes. It is better economy, no matter if the family is large, to purchase only one barrel in the fall. At intervals during the winter, when another barrel is required, it may cost more, only one has to take into consideration the fact that in the ordinary furnaceheated cellar the lasting quality of apples is impaired. Better pay the cold storage man fifty cents for having kept them safely than throw away a dollar's worth of rotten fruit. If you are lucky enough to possess a cool vegetable cellar, it is economy to store away several barrels of apples late in the fall, when they are at their cheapest. New clean barrels and a cool calcimined cellar, with plenty of ventilation, are necessities, however.

The Care Of Apples

The fruit should be examined once a week, being handled very carefully to prevent bruising. It is an excellent plan to keep an empty barrel for this purpose. Two or three decaying apples will speedily taint the flavor of a whole barrel, or make them rot. The fruit which is only slightly spoiled may be culled out, heaped in a peach basket and cooked at the earliest convenience. If you are a householder of the East, buy greenings, Baldwins, or russets; they are the bestkeeping winter apples. The Ben Davis and wine saps are two varieties most successfully stored in Western cellars.

The professor, skilled in the science of food chemistry, tells us that apples contain gluten, albumen, pectin, fibrin, sugar, starch, malice acid, tannin acid, as well as water and traces of free salts. This all means little to the housewife unskilled in chemistry; she only realizes that, in some subtle fashion of her own. Nature has stored away in the apple such a wealth of healthfulness and spicy flavors as is bestowed on few of the fruits of the tropics. It is full of the elements essential to the building up of sound tissues and the making of good blood. When eaten raw it is at its best. Every day pick the choicest apples from the barrel, polish with tissue paper, and pile in a pretty dish. Accustom the children of your household to apple eating; as a rule it is an easy task. When a meal is over, remove the apples to a cool pantry; they lose much flavor and crispness when left standing in a heated diningroom.

The old adage, which said "Apples are gold in the morning, silver at noon, and lead at night," has been set aside by latterday authorities on nutrition. They assure us that apples eaten raw are gold at night, because they excite the action of the liver, promote sound and healthy sleep, and prove excellent brain food.

Cooked Apples

When one turns to the cooking of apples, first of all we think of wholesome apple sauce and delicious baked apples. For tried and true receipts for such wholesome fare, see the following pages and apple receipts among "Puddings." This is but a glance at the manifold uses of our most useful of fruits.

Apples As Salad

Besides making most appetizing desserts, apples serve to help out the daily menu in many ways. Cut in cubes mixed with shredded celery and a few walnut meats and smothered with a boiled dressing, sour apples form the base of the excellent Waldorf salad. [See "Salads," page 161.]

Apple Fritters

Sliced, dipped in a batter, fried in deep fat, and served with a sweet sauce, they are delicious as fritters.

Apple Sauce

Of necessity, apple sauce does not always await the entrance of roast pork. It is good all winter long, for breakfast, luncheon, or supper, and it proves a most welcome variation to the housewife who sees her canned fruit supply running low. Apples for any cooking purpose should always be pared with a silver knife; steel will spoil their color. For apple sauce, cook them in a tightly covered granite or whitelined saucepan. Take it from the fire as soon as the fruit is tender, sweeten, and serve warm. Do not sweeten if the sauce is to be served with pork. If you would have the finest possible flavor, put the apples with a very little water and sugar in a clean bean pot, set it in a hot oven, and bake. The sauce will have a rich red color and a most excellent taste.

Cider Apple Sauce

Sometimes toward the approach of spring apples grow flavorless. Add to them in any way they are cooked a dash of lemon or orange juice, half a cup of grated pineapple or a few spoons of quince preserve. The addition of raisins, halved dates, or a little finely chopped orange peel often transforms plain apple sauce into a very attractive dish for the childcare’s table. We must not forget the spicy, oldfashioned cider apple sauce, which is a good standby all winter long. Simmer down to a pint one quart of cider and add to it four quarts of sliced apples. Cook till tender, flavor with a bit of lemon peel, if desired; beat to a smooth cream, pour into stone jars, cover when cool, and set away in a dry cold place. This sauce may be made in a large quantity. It will keep perfectly till warm weather. See also "Apple Butter" following.

Apple Butter

In a porcelain kettle boil down six quarts of cider till it measures four quarts. Have half a peck of fine, easy cooking, juicy, sweet apples. Peel, core, and slice as many of the apples as the cider will cover and drop them in the boiling cider. When the apples are tender, take them out with a skimmer, and lay in a stone crock. Do exactly the same with the rest of the half peck of apples. Pour the cider over, stir up from the bottom, and let stand overnight. The next morning put all together in the kettle, and slowly cook down till you have a jam or butter consistency. Be sure your heat is only moderate, for the butter must not burn. Put in bottles or jars and seal