The Milwaukee Leader

Nancy Page

Plum Jam Pleases the Peter Pages.

By Floretty La Gasse.

Nancy's infant son was peacefully sleeping. Peter was out of town for a few days on a business trip. The fruit shop had just sent to the Page home the most beautiful plums that Nancy had ever laid eyes on. There were pale green ones, deep rich red ones and some with purple bloom on their cheeks. Nancy knew she never could use all of them as table fruit, so she decided to make jam. She chose the damson plums for the jam. It wasn't so much of an ordeal since the fruit was not peeled, merely pitted and cut in small pieces.

She weighed two pounds of fruit and found it equalled four level half pint cups when pitted and cut up. She put the fruit in a heavy aluminum kettle. She might just as well have used an enamel one. To the fruit she added one-half cup water. The mixture was stirred until it boiled, when the fire was turned down and the kettle covered and left to simmer for 15 minutes. At the end of this time 7 1/2 cups sugar were added. Nancy stirred the mixture until it came to a full rolling boil. When the top looked like a bubbling sea she watched the clock and let it boil for exactly one minute. Then she took it from the fire, stirred in one-half cup commercial, liquid pectin. She stirred it well, skimmed off the scum and poured the jam into hot clean jam pots. Some of it went into tiny ones which would later appear in Christmas baskets.

Plum jam calls for other food at social affairs. Write to Nancy Page, care of this paper, enclosing a stamped self-addressed envelope, asking for her leaflet on Table Etiquette