I hope you like strawberries, because the owner of this box sure did.
Speaking of World War II rations (see yesterday’s Prune Cake), you might notice that making preserves takes an awful lot of sugar. Now, the government wanted people to practice canning. Consider these posters from the collection of the USDA’s National Agricultural Library:
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The Office of Price Administration resolved this tension by accepting applications for a 25-pound annual allotment of sugar for canning. Twenty-five pounds is roughly 56 and 1/3 cups of sugar, which would be enough to make this recipe 14 times–probably more strawberry preserves than you need, given that you would normally get about four 8-ounce jars of preserves per 3 cups of berries.
From a box sold in Canby, Oregon.
Strawberry Preserves
Put 4 cups sugar over 3 cups berries. Juice 1 lemon.
Cook over low fire till sugar is dissolved. Then rapid boil for 12 minutes. Remove. Cool in pan. Jar.
Yesterdish reminder: Use modern canning techniques if you want to preserve your preserves outside of a refrigerator.