Still putting it by

Finally finished up around 6:30 CDST with 6 quart jars of pear slices in
a light syrup. So far we have used up 22 lbs of sliced, peeled, and
cored pears. Looks to be about that much still to go.

Tally for today: Pear sauce - 8 8 ounce jars, 4 4 ounce jars.
slices - 6 quarts

Tomorrow will be pear mincemeat (a favorite of mine) and pear jelly. The
pear jelly will be made from the juice of the pears used to make the
pear sauce. I think I better check my jar stash.

George Shirley wrote:



I went looking for jam/jelly jars yesterday, even at the Evil Walmart,
and the only place I found them was at Albertson's, $5.99 a dozen.
These city/suburban stores think that once back-to-school stuff is
stocked, all garden and preserving merchandise is no longer needed.
I tried to explain to one manager that real canning/preserving was just
getting underway, but he told me they never carry gardening stuff into
August. Huh?

Made 9 more jars of lower sugar apricot jam today. Lovely stuff.

gloria p

"George Shirley" <[Only registered users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:xBrmk.5705$[Only registered users can see links. ]...

My pears are sitting here not ripening. Those the birds pecked are starting
to decay. :*(

In article <xBrmk.5705$[Only registered users can see links. ]>,
George Shirley <[Only registered users can see links. ]> wrote:


My grandmother used to make mincemeat. I can scarcely remember, since
she didn't make it too often, but I'm pretty sure that Seckel pears and
raisins were in the mix. We had mincemeat pies, in addition to pumpkin,
at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I often wonder how she ever got
everything done.

Isabella
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot

Isabella Woodhouse wrote:
We used Kiefer pears and there were sultana raisins, California currants
(little bitty raisins), and some chopped dried apricot in the mix. The
recipe is from the Ball Complete Book.
We had mincemeat pies, in addition to pumpkin,
Our daughter won a blue ribbon in a 4H pie contest back when she was
about ten or eleven years old. She's bumping fifty now and that's her
own words. The pie used pear mincemeat and had a cream cheese topping,
the old "cloud" topping of the sixties. She called it a "Texas Top"
mincemeat pie. I love that pie. For my thirty-seventh birthday she made
an oversize pie and she and her mom brought it to me at work. My work
buddy and I ate the whole pie for our lunch and didn't even get sick. Of
course I weighed in at about 160 lbs back then and was on the go for
twelve hours a day. Nowadays I can only eat a single piece at one sitting.

We finished the mincemeat getting 4.5 pints and also did a pot of pear
jelly, producing 3.5 pints. Again the recipe is from the Ball Complete
Book. The jelly is a beautiful golden yellow and has a really delicate
flavor. I have enough juice to make another batch tomorrow plus we are
going to make "Gingered Pear Preserves" tomorrow. Hopefully that will
finish up the pears we had.

In article <YJHmk.6911$vX2.2061@bignews6.bellsouth.net>,
George Shirley <gshirl@bellsouth.net> wrote:






How wonderful that your daughter learned to bake pies. It seems that so
few people bake anymore. At holidays, around here, you would not
believe the long lines when people are picking up their pre-ordered
pies. I have two 10" pyrex pie dishes though I did use 9 inchers when I
had to bake more than a couple pies. I always liked the way the 10"
baked up as opposed to the 9", for fruit pies--- not cream or meringue.
I picked some apples today but not yet enough to bake a pie. Oh man I
can hardly wait!

I just remembered a little pie story. When my uncle was a little boy,
he pilfered a blackberry pie that my great grandmother had made and hid
it under his pillow!


I envy you your pears. In fact, I'm thinking of buying some from a
local orchard since we don't have any. That pear jelly sounds gorgeous.
There are a lot of recipes that use pears that I'd love to try--- well
some of them anyway.

This morning I hit the ground running. After hanging out a couple loads
of wash, I froze another 6# of those Provider beans. That makes about
20# so far from 150' of row--- and lots more are yet on the way! I
can't believe it. After making my daughter some pineapple jam, I made
my trips around the garden, picked the tomatoes, cukes, zucchini, etc.
just as the unpredicted storm clouds started to get noisy. We had one
heck of a downpour.

DH is out of town and I am so tired I could just drop. The pineapple
jam recipe is the no-added-pectin one out of the Ball Complete Book. It
had one lemon but, let me tell you, that is not enough to take the edge
off the sweetness. It is very good if you love pineapple. My daughter
is happy with it. It set up very well too. She is currently enjoying a
jar of "peach milk" I made from an emptied peach jam jar.

Isabella
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot

Isabella Woodhouse wrote:
I make a pineapple/apricot jam that Bob Baron posted on here some time
back. You should be able to find the recipe on Google Groups by
searching for pineapple/apricot jam. It is truly excellent and very easy
to make. Has rehydrated dried apricots and canned pineapple in it but
very tasty.

In article <%HOmk.6399$[Only registered users can see links. ]>,
George Shirley <[Only registered users can see links. ]> wrote:

Isabella wrote:


Thanks!
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot

"Gloria P" <[Only registered users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered users can see links. ]. ..

Based on what prices around here have been running, you got a good deal on
those jars. I buy mine at Evil Walmart all the time, since they are cheaper
than other places in these parts. This reminds me that I need to stop at
Walmart soon -- they sometimes put their canning stuff on sale this time of
year and one year I got a really good deal on lids.

If you have a Big Lots near you (unfortunately the one that was a reasonable
distance from my house closed), they sometimes have jars at a good price.

Also, Ace Hardware stores sell canning jars year-around. This is handy when
you decide in December to make some marmalade for little Christmas presents.

Last year I tried to buy sandals in early August and couldn't find a single
pair worth buying in my size. What? It's not hot enough in August for
people to not want to wear heavy shoes?

Anny

Anny Middon wrote:





Thanks for the information, Anny. Isn't our marketing system crazy?
Swimsuits in January and snowsuits in August. Just ridiculous.


I'll try Big Lots nad get a surplus of jars--then we won't have another
apricot crop for a decade!

gloria p