{"id":5442,"slug":"to-preserve-limes","title":"To preserve limes.","description":"From The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book (1919) by Victor Hirtzler.","ingredients_raw":["limes","salt","salad water","boiling water","cold water","fresh water","two gallons of water","two large handfuls of cooking salt","one cup of vinegar","several handfuls of fresh spinach","a fifteen degree syrup"],"ingredients_norm":["lime","salt","salad water","boiling water","cold water","fresh water","water","cooking salt","vinegar","several handfuls of fresh spinach","fifteen degree syrup"],"steps":["Remove the cores from the limes with a small tin tube made for the purpose.","Then cover with salad water, using à large handful of salt to the gallon.","Soak for four or five hours; then drain off the water, and throw the limes into boiling water.","As soon as they are soft take them out, one by one, and drop them into cold water.","Change the cold water several times.","To turn the limes green again put two gallons of water in a copper pan, add two large handfuls of cooking salt, one cup of vinegar, and several handfuls of fresh spinach.","Put the pan on the fire and boil for a few minutes, then put the limes in the pan, and boil up several times.","Remove from the fire, and allow to stand until cold; when the limes will have resumed their natural color.","Drain off the liquid and let the limes soak in fresh water for about fourteen hours, changing the water frequently.","Prepare a fifteen degree syrup, testing with a syrup gauge or cooking thermometer; and when boiling throw the limes into this, boil up, and then put into a vessel and leave for twelve hours.","Then pour off the syrup, and boil it to sixteen degrees, pour it over the limes again, leaving it for twelve hours.","Then drain and boil again to twenty degrees, pour over the limes, stand for twelve hours, and continue every twelve hours until thirty-two degrees are reached.","Then boil for two minutes, and pour into small stone jars.","Seal hermetically when cool."],"categories":[],"prep_time_minutes":null,"cook_time_minutes":null,"total_time_minutes":null,"servings":null,"yield_text":null,"difficulty":null,"source_name":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39550","source_ref":"pg:39550:w76:11","authors_url":null,"license":"Public domain (US)","license_url":null,"extraction_confidence":0.98,"content_hash":"59e85a573044265320ecde9268a8174b0e1cab9b3529ee5d6c01f08c3edb7278","created_at":"2026-08-02T16:44:05Z","updated_at":"2026-08-02T16:44:05Z","notice":"Historical recipe (1919), reproduced as published: it may reflect its era's ingredients, language, and food-safety practices. Apply modern judgment on cooking temperatures and preservation.","url":"https://recipecontextprotocol.com/recipes/to-preserve-limes"}