PEARS

We stayed at our friend's house for the weekend and one of the things we did to occupy the kids was pick pears.  We don't know what kind of pears these are but they taste like apples.

Uncle Jason took The Kid up in the bucket truck to pick some from the top of the tree.  At first, he was too scared to even get in but cool Uncle Jason prevailed.  He strapped him into a harness and up they went.

They went up really high.  On a side note, the sky was absolutely beautiful today.  

Then they got down to business and picked some pears.  Lots of pears.  Too many pears that any two families could eat in the time before they'd go bad.

This is just a small sampling of the pears we picked today.  A grocery bag full got peeled and put into the crock pot along with sugar and cinnamon and water.  Boy were my hands sore after peeling about 25 pears. I'm not a big fan of pears eaten plain so I'd never realized what a cruciferous fruit it is.

Several hours later, a few bouts of stirring, and we had some canned Pear Butter!  Daddeee says it tastes just like apple butter.  I agree.

Aren't the jars just adorable?  I like canning in the half pint jars because a) they fit well in my pan for sanitizing and b) I get more jars full so I can give them away.

I was able to fill 9 jars.  That's some to keep and some to give away.  Bonus!  I love sharing home made goodies with family and friends.


Pear Butter 

20-25 small pears (peeled and cored)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 T cinnamon
2/3 cup water

Place all of the ingredients into the crock pot and cook on high for about 4-5 hours.  Check and stir them often.  As soon as the pears are soft enough to smash with your spoon, they're ready.  I used my boat motor, otherwise known as an immersion blender.  You can do this until it's smooth or you can leave some chunks.  It's up to you.

Sanitize your jars in a pot of boiling water.  Place the Pear Butter into the jars leaving about a 1/2 inch from the top.  Clean off the edges of the jars and place the lids on.  Now wait and listen to them pop.  Once they've popped, they're sealed and good for several months.  A note of caution:  the Pear Butter and the jars are extremely hot.  Please be careful.