Pears Galore!

I bought 20 pounds of locally grown pears a few days ago, and have been trying to use them up before they all go bad. Here are some of the things we have made:

Pear sauce! Super easy to make.... peel and core the pears and cut them into chunks (or if your family will eat the skins, don't peel them!). Add a little bit of lemon juice and some cinnamon and simmer until tender. I didn't add any extra sugar and this came out plenty sweet enough for me! I like my pear sauce chunky, so once the pears were tender, I just used a potato masher to mash it up. I used a hot water bath to process them.
I was actually really surprised at how many pears it took to make only 4 quarts of sauce.... I think we will go through this must faster than I thought!!

I also made some pear butter. All the recipes for this call for lots of added sugar, but I didn't use any (and I still think it taste delicious!). I used about 8 pounds of pears (peeled and cored), a few tablespoons of vanilla and about a tsp or so of cloves. I pureed it all until smooth in a food processor and then cooked it on high in a crock pot for most of the day (until it is pretty thick). I also canned this using a hot water bath. Once this cooked down I only filled 6 4-ounce jars, so next time I will probably make a much bigger batch (I think this will make a great xmas present!)


I also made some pear leather. This was my first time making leather and I was pleasantly surprised by how yummy it turned out. I only wish I had made more!! For pear leather, I used 4 pears (peeled and cored), and pureed them with a little cinnamon and ginger. Then you line a cookie sheet with plastic wrap, and spread the pureed mixture evenly over the tray. Now the problem is the drying.... I dried this on low (about 170) in the oven for a few hours, then it spent a day in the sun (in a box covered with plastic wrap to keep out critters), and then it still needed a few more hours in the oven again. So, it took a really, really long time to dry my one sheet of fruit leather. If I had more cookie trays, I could do 4 at a time, and that would be a little more manageable. However, I think I am adding a food dehydrator to my xmas wish-list.... I have heard it only takes about 6 hours in a dehydrator, and since this came out so fantastic, I know I will want to make more next year. A solar oven may be an option as well, however, I have never tried it!