The Myrtle Reed Cook Book. Reed Myrtle

      This luscious fruit is at its best when served fresh from the vines, with the bloom still on. Never wash a bunch of grapes if it can be avoided. Serve with grape scissors to cut the bunches apart. People who fear appendicitis may have the grapes squeezed from the skins and the seeds afterwards removed. They are very nice this way, with sugar and pounded ice.

GRAPEFRUIT

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      A good grapefruit will have dark spots, a skin which seems thin, will be firm to the touch, and heavy for its size. To serve, cut crosswise, and remove the white, bitter pulp which is in the core, and separate the sections. Fill the core with sugar and serve cold. A little rum or kirsch may be added just before serving, but, as George Ade said, “A good girl needs no help,” and it is equally true of a good grapefruit. If anybody knows why it is called grapefruit, please write to the author of this book in care of the publishers.

GREEN GAGES

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      Serve as they come, with the bloom on, or peel, pit, and serve with cracked ice and powdered sugar.

HUCKLEBERRIES

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      Look the fruit over carefully. Nothing pleases a fly so much as to die and be mistaken for a huckleberry. Serve with cracked ice, with sugar or cream, or both.

MUSKMELONS

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      Keep on ice till the last moment. Cut crosswise, take out the seeds with a spoon, and put a cube of ice in each half. Green leaves on the plate are a dainty touch.

ORANGES

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      Serve with fruit-knives, or in halves with spoons—either the orange-spoon which comes for that purpose, or a very heavy teaspoon. Another way is to remove the peel, except a strip an inch wide at the equator, cut at a division line and straighten out the peel, taking care not to break off the sections. Or, the fruit may be peeled, sliced, and served on plates with sugar.

PEACHES

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      Wipe with a dry cloth and serve with fruit-knives. Or, if you think much of your breakfast napkins, peel and cut just before serving, as they discolor quickly. Serve with cracked ice, or with cream. Hard peaches may be baked, as apples are, and served cold with cream. Stewed peaches may be served on crusts.

PEARS

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      Serve as they come, with fruit-knives. Hard pears may be baked or stewed according to directions previously given.

PINEAPPLE

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      Peel, cut out the eyes, and shred from the core with a silver fork. Sprinkle with sugar and keep on ice some hours before serving. Pineapple is the only fruit known to have a distinct digestive value, and it works most readily on starches. It combines pleasantly with bananas.

PRUNELLES

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      These are soaked, and boiled in the water in in which they are soaked, with the addition of a very little sugar. Dried apricots, blackberries, cherries, nectarines, and prunes are cooked in the same way. They may also be steamed and afterwards sprinkled with sugar.

PRUNES

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      These are no longer despised since the price has gone up, and the more expensive kinds are well worth having. A bit of lemon-peel or spice may flavor the syrup acceptably, and they are especially healthful in combination with cereals, according to recipes previously given.

QUINCES

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      Peel, stuff the cores with sugar, and bake according to directions given for apples. A little lemon may be used in the syrup for basting.

RASPBERRIES AND STRAWBERRIES

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      These delicious berries should not be washed unless absolutely necessary, nor should they be insulted with sugar and cream. If very sour, strawberries may be dipped in powdered sugar. Large, fine ones are served with the stems and hulls on. Raspberries, if ripe, seldom need sugar. Cracked ice is a pleasing accompaniment.

RHUBARB

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      I. Peel, cut into inch-lengths, and stew with plenty of sugar. Serve cold.

       II. Cut, but do not peel, boil five minutes, then change the water and cook slowly with plenty of sugar till done.

      III. Baked.—Do not peel. Cut into inch-pieces, put into a buttered baking-dish or stone jar, sprinkle plentifully with sugar, and bake slowly. It will be a rich red in color.

      IV. Cook on crusts. See Cherries IV.

      V. Add a handful of seeded raisins to rhubarb cooked in any of the above ways when it is about half done. Figs, dates, and other dried fruits, used with rhubarb, make a combination pleasing to some.

TANGERINES

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      See Oranges.

WATERMELON

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      Like muskmelon, watermelon must be very thoroughly chilled. Serve in slices from a platter or on individual plates, removing the rind