Wash the fruit thoroughly. Cover with cold water and soak twenty-four hours. Put on to cook in the same water in which it has soaked. Add spices if desired. Cover closely and simmer until tender. Add the sugar and simmer ten minutes longer. Take out the fruit, and, if necessary, boil down the syrup, then pour it over the fruit. LESSONS V, VI, ETC. While studying vegetable food, practice will be given in nearly every lesson in the preparation and cooking of vegetables or fruit, but after the completion of this series of lessons, these foods should be prepared and cooked with more intelligence and interest. For this reason, there may be, at the last, one general practical lesson devoted to vegetables and fruit, to review and impress the facts that have been taught. As potatoes, on account of their large amount of starch, require special care, an extra lesson may be given to this vegetable. In the lesson on potatoes the attention of the class should be directed to the following: POINTS IN COOKING POTATOES 1. Be sure to soften the cellulose thoroughly. 2. After the potatoes are cooked, get rid of all possible moisture, that they may be white and mealy. (1) If potatoes are cooked in water, drain them thoroughly, remove the cover, and shake over the heat to dry out the starch. (2) If potatoes are baked, break the skins and allow the moisture to escape as steam. 3. When serving mashed potatoes, pile them lightly without smoothing. USE OF STARCH TO THICKEN LIQUIDS A lesson on the use of starch for thickening purposes should be given before lessons on the making of a sauce or a soup from the water in which vegetables have been cooked. The necessity of separating the starch grains should be shown by experiments. EXPERIMENTS IN USING STARCH FOR THICKENING (Any powdered starch may be used) 1. Boil 1/4 cup of water in a small saucepan. While boiling, stir into it 1/2 tsp. of cornstarch and let it boil one minute. Observe the result. Break open a lump and examine it. 2. Mix 1 tsp. of cornstarch with 2 tsp. of cold water, and stir into 1/4 cup of boiling water. Note the result. 3. Mix 1 tsp. of cornstarch with 2 tsp. of sugar and stir into 1/4 cup of boiling water. Note the result. 4. Mix 1 tsp. of cornstarch with 2 tsp. of melted fat in a small saucepan and stir into it 1/4 cup of boiling water. Note the result. CONCLUSIONS BASED ON THE FOREGOING EXPERIMENTS 1. Starch granules must be separated before being used to thicken a liquid: (1) By adding a double quantity of cold liquid (2) By adding a double quantity of sugar (3) By adding a double quantity of melted fat. 2. The liquid which is being thickened must be constantly stirred, to distribute evenly the starch grains until they are cooked. BASIC RECIPE FOR LIQUIDS THICKENED WITH FLOUR.