Pare and quarter three slightly sour apples. Put them into a saucepan with a cup of water and two tablespoons of sugar, and stew gently until they are soft, but not broken. Each piece should be whole, but soft and tender. A tablespoon of lemon-juice put in just before they are taken from the fire is a good addition to make if the apples are poor in flavor; or, lemon-peel may be used, and also cinnamon and cloves. APPLE COMPOTE Wash and wipe some fair, well-flavored apples (not sweet). Core them with an apple-corer (not a knife), being careful not to leave in any of the hulls, which sometimes penetrate far into the fruit; pare them evenly, so that they will be smooth and of good shape. Then boil them gently, in water enough to just reach their tops, with a square inch or two of thin lemon-peel, and a teaspoon of sugar for each apple, until they are soft, but not broken, watching them carefully toward the last part of the cooking, lest they go to pieces. When done lift them out into a glass dish, reduce the water by further boiling until it is somewhat syrupy, and set it aside to cool. Fill the holes with apple, grape, or any bright-colored jelly, and when the syrup is cold pour it over and around the apples. STEWED PRUNES 1 Pint of prunes. 1½ Pints of water. ¼ Cup of sugar. 2 Tablespoons of lemon-juice. Soak the prunes in warm water for fifteen minutes, to soften the dust and dirt on the outside. Then wash them carefully with the fingers, rejecting those that feel granular (they are worm-eaten); stew them gently in the sugar and water in a covered saucepan for two hours. Just before taking them from the fire put in the lemon-juice. They should be plump, soft, and tender to the stone. As the water evaporates the amount should be restored, so that there will be as much at the end as at the beginning of the cooking. French prunes may not require quite so long time for cooking as most ordinary kinds. CRANBERRY SAUCE AND JELLY Pick out the soft and decayed ones from a quantity of Cape cranberries; measure a pint, and put with it _half_ the bulk of sugar, and _one fourth_ the bulk of water. Stew the berries ten minutes without stirring, counting the time from the moment when they are actually bubbling. Done in this way, the skins will be tender, and the juice on cooling will form a delicate jelly. Or, the fruit may be pressed through a soup-strainer and the whole made into jelly. GRAPE SAUCE