I managed to wrest a few pears away from the hornets and yellow jackets so I could make a little run of this delicious stuff -- a family favorite for many years.
The Ball Blue Book -- Home Guide to Canning and Freezing is my source. (I have a more recent one as back up-- when the pages of the old one grow too food-spattered to read.) I kind of combine two recipes to make this.
It's easy to do -- peel and slice up your pears (about seven pounds, more or less; I use Keiffer pears because that's what we have,) put in a pot with four cups water and four cups sugar (brown sugar, again because that's what I had), raisins, 3 lemons, in de-seeded slices,a cup of vinegar (cider vinegar, for choice) and a tablespoon each of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and ground ginger. Bring to a boil and simmer forty minutes, put into hot clean canning jars, seal with new lids, and process in a boiling water bath for 25 minutes.
It's easy to do -- peel and slice up your pears (about seven pounds, more or less; I use Keiffer pears because that's what we have,) put in a pot with four cups water and four cups sugar (brown sugar, again because that's what I had), raisins, 3 lemons, in de-seeded slices,a cup of vinegar (cider vinegar, for choice) and a tablespoon each of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and ground ginger. Bring to a boil and simmer forty minutes, put into hot clean canning jars, seal with new lids, and process in a boiling water bath for 25 minutes.
And there they are -- a taste of fall.
They make a fine dessert, paired (ouch, what a pun) with sharp cheddar.
You can enlarge the picture to read the recipes I used.
