or two filter through
thin muslin. It will be ready for use in a a week.

_Maraschino._--Bruise two ounces of cherry kernels and one of bitter
almonds; put them in a deep jar with the thin outer rind of twelve
oranges and five lemons. Steep in one gallon of English gin or alcohol.
Let the whole stand a fortnight, then filter and bottle.

_Ratafia._--Blanch the kernels of uncooked peaches or apricots, and when
you have two ounces pound them, and pour to them a quart of gin or
alcohol and the thin yellow rind of two lemons. Sweeten with a pound of
white sugar-candy, and leave the whole for two months; then filter and
bottle for use.

_Candied Orange and Lemon Peels._--These are invaluable both as
decoration for certain desserts and for culinary purposes, and as they
are not always to be found except in the larger cities, the method of
preparing them is here given: Throw the peels into salt and water, all
pulp being removed, but the white part must be left untouched; in fact,
the thicker the peel the better for the purpose, thin-skinned oranges
being of no use for candying. Let them remain in the salt and water from
nine days to three weeks; then wash them, put them on the fire in cold
water, and let them boil till perfectly tender, yet they must not be
mushy. During the time they are boiling change the water until it no
longer tastes salt. Lemon-peels may take from three to four hours'
boiling, orange-peels less; but remember, should the lemon-peel not be
quite tender, it will harden when it goes into syrup, and instead of a
rich sweetmeat there will be only woody chips. Drain the peels, and make
a thin syrup of a pint of water to each pound of sugar. Let it boil five
minutes; then throw in the peels; they must boil gently in this until
they are clear and the syrup has become thick--almost boiled away, in
fact. Now make another syrup, half a pint of water to two pounds of
sugar; let it boil till clear and till there is a short hair from the
fork. Now put in the peels (which must have been drained from the other
syrup); remove from the fire; stir them round till the syrup looks
whitish; then lift each piece out and lay it on a dish on which
granulated sugar has been freely sprinkled.

Both orange and lemon peels are candied by the same process, but they
must never be put in the same vessel of salt and water, nor must they be
candied together, or the distinctive flavors would be lost.

XXIX.

MISCELLANEOUS SWE