This week, I went over and got the last of the pears that weren't rotten on my parents' pear trees. They are organic, which really means that we have never pruned them, taken care of them, watered them, or fertilized them. But, no chemicals, so that is a good thing!
These are not pretty, grocery store pears with a buttery, smooth texture. These are old fashioned pears with peels like leather and a slightly grainy texture, but the taste is sweet and wonderful. They cook up well, but will make your hands sore when you peel and core lots of them at a time!
Today, I prepared two large bags of pears and some Fuji apples that we got at a farm stand (off the trees that morning!). Now, I have both crockpots running on high. The largest one is full of pears, cinnamon, splenda, and ground cloves. It is filled to the brim, just waiting to cook down into pear butter. Mmmmmm.
My smaller crock pot is filled half way with the remaining pears and topped off with the Fuji apples. They are starting to smell SO good. I will water bath can both batches when they are done. But, they have to cook a long time and they will cook down a lot, so two crock pots is a good amount to deal with.
Some of these will likely be put in Christmas baskets with maybe a decorated hand towel and/or homemade dishcloth or two. I love that the bulk of this gift is done way before Christmas.
I still have about 2/3 of the apples we bought, so some plain ol' apple butter will be next, maybe followed by some home canned applesauce!
2 comments:
Wow...I can almost smell it here in Vegas! That would make an awesome present at Chrismas ;-D
I wish you really could smell it! We went out to run an errand, and when we got home, it smelled so good it would make your mouth water!
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