anyone here make there own preserves. I'm overloaded for pears and want to do something besides the regular pear in syrup & pear butter & pear jam. Any suggestions?

Thanks

I like to make Pear Mincemeat and Carmel Pear Butter and Brandied Pears - all the recipes are in the Ball Blue Book (except I think the recipe is for Carmel Apple Butter). Maple Pear Butter is good too - just replace some of the sugar with maple syrup. I've also seen recipes for pickled pears and pear ketchup.

Mmmm... I need to go buy a bushel of pears!

Julie

ball blue book whats that? so far i've made some spiced pear butter (with allspice cinnamon etc but that caramel pear butter sounds divine!!! whats pear mincemeat?

Here's a recipe for pear mincemeat.

Mincemeat is mainly used to make a mincemeat pie ... a traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert. It's sometimes used in cookies and other dessert recipes too.


Pear Mincemeat Recipe

7 pounds fully ripe pears (about 25 to 30 medium size pears)
1 lemon
2 pounds seedless raisins
6 -1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
1 T. cinnamon
1 T. nutmeg
1 T. ground cloves
1 T. allspice
1 tsp. ginger

Preparation -
Peel and core the pears. Coarsely chop or cube the pears. Cut the lemon into quarters and remove the seeds. Finely chop or grind the lemon. Stir the chopped pears, lemon, raisins and vinegar together in a stockpot. Mix the sugar and spices together. Stir the sugar and spice mixture into the fruit and vinegar mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for about 40 to 45 minutes, or until thickened, stirring often. Ladle into hot canning jars... about 4 quarts or 8 pints. Place the caps and rings on the jars and process in a boiling water bath canner for 25 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner. Cool to room temperature, check the seals, label the jars, and store in a cool, dark place.


To make a mincemeat pie...
For a 9" pie, mix about 1 tablespoon rum or rum flavoring + about 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans with 2 pints or 1 quart mincemeat. Prepare pastry for a 2 crust pie. Place the mincemeat mixture in an unbaked pie shell. Dot with butter. Cover with the top pastry and flute the edges. Cut a few vents in the top crust. Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for about 40 more minutes or until the mincemeat filling is thick and bubbly and the crust is light golden brown.

This really sounds delicious! My mom always made mincemeat bars at Christmas.

I'll have to try your recipe this year as I really love pears.

that sounds absolutley delicious i never even thought of adding raisins yum yum! can't wait to try this one! now if anyone has that carmel pear butter recipe....mmm i think this christmas i'll give out my home made goodies as gifts!

Threadmining again!

I grew up canning and freezing, but now that I don't have 4 varieties of berries, an apple orchard, and a 1/4 acre garden, I don't do it any more.

Today I got a bug up my butt, and decided to make Strawberry jam. WalMart had pints of strawberries for half price, so they were comparable to U-Pick places.

Anybody else doing anything with strawberries this year? I have enough left over to make a pie.

Yesterday my local grocery store had Concord grapes! I love to make my Grandmother's recipe for Grape Conserve and it requires Concord grapes. All of the grape, except for the seeds, goes in. Also a cut up orange, raisins, walnuts and sugar. It is pure heaven. I made a small batch yesterday (the grapes are almost $4 a pound), as soon as I got home from the store! YUM,YUM.