Wartime Plum Jam

The last day of August and tomorrow we will be in the "ber" days. The weather has finally broken and and today was slightly cooler. Im hoping that the "ber" days will be a bit more "brrrrrr"

Sleepy Lagoon (Lawrence-Coates) 

by Harry James & his Orchestra 1942

Once all the beds were changed, the bedrooms and the laundry was drying nicely on the line...it was time to put on a little music and start canning again. Today its Plum Jam.. a Ministry of Food recipe using the beautiful plums I bought from the Farmers Market on Friday.

Now the recipe calls for 6lb of fruit.. but I wanted to keep some back for the last of my jam making tomorrow.. so I only used 5 lb and adjusted the sugar weight for weight. It still gave me seven beautiful jars... And Seeing as the recipe didn't mention water bathing... I did away with this process.

5-6 lb. Plums
6 lb. Sugar
½ -1½ pints water

• Sterilize your jars and lids
• Wash the plums, cut in half and stew slowly with the water until the skins are softened. 
• Ripe, juicy fruit requires less water than under-ripe fruit. 
• Add the sugar, stir until it is dissolved

• Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until setting point is reached. 
• 6 lb. fruit will usually be needed, but 5 lb. will be sufficient to make a well-set jam if the fruit is of very good quality. 

• Remove as many stones as possible as they rise to the surface. 
• The plums may be stoned before cooking and the kernels cooked with the fruit.

• The jam will still be liquid when you ladle it into your jars. 
• Stir the jam and carefully ladle it into the heated, sterilised jars. 
• Immediately seal the jars tightly with sterilised lids.
• It can take up to 48 hours to completely set.
• When cool, remove any spills from the jars and label with the date and name.

Eggs and Pork Sausage

The heat is really getting to me.. but Im trying not to complain. But 108° is too much for anyone.  Today I felt so tired and worn out we decided to have a day at home. 

But we did spend an hour in the garden just tidying up a bit... getting rid of the cucumber plants that had sucomed to the scorching heat and deadheading the roses. 

The peppers however are loving the weather and we have lots of jalapenos, serrano's and pimientos growing....

For breakfast this morning I made a dish called Eggs and Pork Sausage from "300 Ways to Serve Eggs",

published by the Culinary Arts Institute, 1940

Its pretty self explanatory and almost a complete meal in itself... sausage.. eggs... cheese... milk and bread. It was very easy to throw together.. and a great opportunity to use some of the dried bread cubes from the pantry. I halved the recipe as it was only for the two of us.. not the six as suggested.. and I must say it was very flavourful and filling

I will be making it again

1/2 pound bulk pork sausage
3 cups dry cubed bread
6 eggs, beaten
6 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup grated cheese

Original Recipe from the Book

• Sauté the pork sausage in a skillet until well browned.
• Pour off most of the fat from the pan.
• Add the bread cubes and brown them with the sausage.
• Combine the beaten eggs, milk, and grated cheese in a bowl
• Add this mixture to the sausage and bread.
• Cook like scrambled eggs until set.
• Serve immediately with grilled tomatoes.

"300 Ways to Serve Eggs",

the Culinary Arts Institute 1940

Wartime Chocolate Clusters

MrD finishes work at 6am on Fridays.. this morning we managed to get to the Farmers Market nice and early. We needed chicken feed.. but I also found some fresh peaches and plums at a very reasonable price. That's my jam list finished!

Yesterday MrD was craving something a choclatety.. but I was low in actual chocolate.  I remembered this leaflet from 1940 that had lots of chocolate treats using Frys cocoa powder. This wartime recipe leaflet for cakes, biscuits and sweets have ingredients including dried egg, dried milk, margarine and grated potatoes. Luckily many of those ingredients weren't included in this recipe. Last Christmas I used one of the recipes to make Wartime Chocolate Truffles.. which were a huge success. 

However.. these chocolate clusters were a bit disappointing. The flavour was ok.. but even after 24 hours  they still hadn't hardened. MrD said he didn't mind the texture.. but to me the oats were just a bit funky. The recipe suggests using wheat flakes which I think might have been a better alternative.

The mixture only made six clusters... so Im sure it wont be too much of a chore for MrD to finish off

2 tablespoons sugar (rounded)
2 tablespoons milk
A walnut-sized piece of margarine
1 tablespoon Fry's cocoa (rounded)
4 tablespoons rolled oats
A few drops of vanilla essence

Original Leaflet Recipe

• Put the sugar, milk, and margarine into a saucepan. 
• Bring the mixture to a boil and let it boil for exactly 2 minutes
• Remove from heat and cool slightly.
• Combine the cocoa and rolled oats together.
• Stir the cocoa and oat mixture into the saucepan until it forms a stiff consistency. 
• Stir in the vanilla essence to taste.
• Drop the mixture in small spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. 
• Leave them overnight to firm up.

Fry's Recipe Leaflet 1940

Strawberry Marmalade

Day two of this years preserves making.. and this is a new one for me.. Strawberry Marmalade from The Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. July 1941

I had a huge harvest of strawberries this year.. so I used half in this recipe and kept half to make Strawberry Jam next week.

I was so pleased the way it turned out. It had a lovely flavour... and a beautiful colour. I didnt water bath it as the recipe didn't call for it. But Im sure it will be shelf stable for quite a while. Absolute winner!

2 oranges
2 lemons
½ cup water
1⁄8 teaspoon soda
1 quart strawberries
7 cups sugar
½ bottle fruit pectin

Original Magazine Clipping

• Remove rind from oranges and lemons
• Cut off white membrane; force rinds thru food chopper. 
• Add water and soda; bring to boiling. 
• Cover and simmer 10 minutes. 

• Add orange and lemon pulp, and juice
• Simmer 20 minutes. 
• Add crushed strawberries. 

• Measure 4 cups prepared fruits; add sugar. 
• Bring to boiling; boil 5 minutes. 

• Remove from heat; stir in fruit pectin. 
• Let stand 5 minutes

• Skim and seal in hot, sterilized glasses. 

Better Homes and Gardens Magazine
July 1941