Pear Butter- A Look Back

I'm not sure how I let this post slip through my fingers,
but it did.
As I was cleaning and organizing my digital life here in blog world,
I discovered that this yummy post about my delicious
and new favorite butter recipe was overlooked.
Geesh!
This is just not right at all.
To try and fix this grotesque error,
here is a look back at a post written at the end of the summer.
Enjoy!

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My summer of gifting continues,

And I'm not the one giving things away this time...

Well, at least not yet. ;)

I love to give,

but it's fabulous when people give me things 

that I can use in my quest to preserve the season.

Though I was thrilled to get a crate of pears,
I knew that my hands were going to pay a price for preserving the little beauties.
And they did.
In fact, I believe that today is the first day that my fingers
are not sore from the hours of peeling.
In case you weren't aware,
there really isn't a good way to handle pears.
Sure you could try the hot water trick that you use for peaches,
but I found that the pears have to be too soft to make it work.
Really, you just need a good, sharp peeler
and a lot of time.
A LOT of time.
This was not a quick project.
In fact, I peeled one day,
and then made sauce and butter the following day.

My fingers may disagree,
but the deliciousness of this butter was worth it.

Crockpot Pear Butter
Recipe Modified from Tammi Lee Tips

Ingredients:
Pears (enough to fill your crockpot)
1 cup Orange Juice
1 cup sugar (can be omitted)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Directions:
1. Peel and peel and peel the pears.
2. Add 1 cup of Orange Juice to your crockpot. (Add the sugar at this time too.)
3. Add pears to fill the crockpot to the top.
4. Turn on the crockpot to "high" for an hour, then turn in down to low for 10 hours.
5. Stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
6. Remove the lid for an hour or two to get a thicker consistency and to let the spices enrich the fruit.
7.  Follow the processing steps from The National Center for Home Food Preservation below.

Processing:

If this is your first time canning, please read up on the process at the The National Center for Home Food Preservation website. http://nchfp.uga.edu/
FYI- I process half-pint and pint jars for 10 minutes.

Spicy Plum-Pear Jam

 

Plums...tasty summer time treat or a nuisance collecting wasps?

Growing up we had a plum tree by the barn.

And each summer I would try to avoid that path

because the wasps would be swarming the area. 

Plums would be scattered around the ground,

and the bees would be having a summertime sugar party.

 

But I have heard that plums have other purposes...other than wasp collecting.

So to help change my mind about plums and their uses, I decided to give them another try.

And what always seems to work out well for fruit in my world?

Jam.

Beautiful sweet, loving jam.

And plums definitely added a new delicious texture to my jamming.

 

Spicy Plum-Pear Jam

Recipe modified from Taste of Home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped or coarsely ground pitted plums

1 cup chopped or coarsely ground peeled pears

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pouch of liquid pectin

5-1/2 cups sugar

 

Directions:

1. Prepare plums and pears:  Place plums and pears in a large stock pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it reaches a hard boil, let it boil for 5 minutes.

2. After fruit is prepared, stir in sugar and bring the mixture to a hard boil again.

3. Add liquid pectin, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

4. Boil mixture for 1 minute, continuing to stir constantly.

5. Remove from the heat and skim off the foam.

6. Add the cinnamon and stir.
 

7. Pour into sterilized jars and prepare according to National Center for Home Food Preservation.

8. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Yield: 6 cups.

Now, I know that I said that I don't like plums, 

but this jam definitely changes my mind about them.  

Even for someone like me, this jam is delicious.

So go ahead and ask your neighbor if you can pluck a few plums from their tree

and give this recipe a try...you'll find it just as tasty as I did.

Pear + Apples = Sauce

It's been a busy week...but canning is relaxing for me.
I know...I weird.

I have a bucket of apples and a handful of pears. 
What better way to spend my day than making applesauce.
There are two recipes that I want to try.
One recipe is perfect for this adorable, smiley little girl that I know. She could use some all-natural, no additions, pear and apple goodness.
The second recipe is perfect for a cold winter day when I need some apple love with a hint of cinnamon.

Pear-Applesauce
Adapted from Simply Canning

Ingredients:
5 quarts peeled, cored, and sliced apples
1 quart peeled, cored, and sliced pears
1 cup water
4 Tbls. fresh lemon juice

Directions:
1. Pour water and lemon juice into a large pot.
2. As you peel, core, and slice your apples, place them in the pot with the lemon/water to prevent browning.

3. Bring the apples/pears to a simmer and cook down until it has the correct "saucy" consistency.

4. Canning: Fill sterilized pint jars to 1/2-inch headspace, then process in a water-bath canner for 25 minutes.

Applesauce
Recipe and Directions From Local Kitchen

Ingredients:
6 lbs local apples
6 cinnamon sticks
1 and 1/4 cups freshly pressed apple cider or juice
4 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sea salt (I omitted this...)

Directions:
(Directly from Local Kitchen)
1. Measure lemon juice and cider into a large stockpot.

2.Peel, core and quarter apples. As you peel them, drop into the pot and toss in the lemon juice/cider to prevent browning.

3. Toast the cinnamon sticks: Using kitchen tongs and a heavy duty oven mitt, hold the cinnamon sticks, one or two at a time, over the flame of a gas range, turning frequently, for about 1 minute, until they darken and smell fragrant. Try not to burn them – if you hold them too close to the flame, they will flame and burn. You can also toast the sticks by laying them directly on a (clean) electric burner for about 20 to 30 seconds per side.

4. Add the cinnamon sticks and salt to the pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir well, then lower heat as low as it will go, partially cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples break down to a saucy consistency (1 to 2 hours).

5. When the applesauce has achieved the desired consistency, taste and adjust salt if necessary; remove cinnamon sticks.

6. To can, fill sterilized pint or half-pint jars to 1/2-inch headspace. Process in a water-bath canner for 20 minutes.

My house smells amazing and I just love hearing the pop, pop, pop of the jars sealing.  Though this process took me all afternoon, the process was easy and the reward is great.  I can't wait to share these lovely jars with those I love.

And I can't wait to make more!!!