Pears!

I am not sure why I never thought to preserve the pears from the tree at my grandparents' house until now!  However, I am sure glad I did this year!  The pears are a Bartlett variety and are delicious.  I am saving some seeds so I can attempt to grow a tree or two at my parents' new house (they have a big yard).  Brian, the girls, and I picked the pears the weekend before last and let them ripen during the week.  On Friday, we canned pear halves, and on Saturday, we made Pear Butter.  We'll be canning more halves today or tomorrow as the rest finish ripening.

The big pear tree at my grandparents' house.

The girls helping to harvest some of the lower pears.

We had to use a ladder and a fruit picker for the rest.

Having fun helping out!

Brian would get some down with the fruit picker and then give the picker to the girls to empty into the baskets.

Two overflowing bushel baskets!

Don't those look good?

Laying out to ripen.

Found an easy way to peel the pear.  Dip it in hot water for 20-30 seconds and then place in a bowl of cold water.  Use your thumbs to peel the skin right off.

Next step was to core the pear, cut any bad spots out, and cut in half.

You then cook the pears in the syrup until they are hot throughout (about 30-40 seconds), put pears in hot jars, and ladle the syrup over the pears to fill the jar.

Ready for processing.

All finished and ready to eat this winter!  

To make the pear butter, we quartered the pears and cut out any bad spots.  We cooked them down until they were soft.

We used a food mill to separate the skins and seeds from the pulp.

We added sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves to the pulp and cooked it in the crockpot on low for 6 hours.  I then moved it to a pan and boiled it on the stove to cook the water out a little more and get it hot enough to can.

Jarred up and ready for processing.

All ready for storage!  We had a little extra that I put in the refrigerator to eat this week.  It tastes delicious!