Canning pears - need good recipes!

[jmcarthur8]

I've got a half of the pears left from the bushel a friend gave me a few days ago. I've canned chunks in light syrup, pear preserves, and pureed pear jam this weekend.
Does anyone have some good canning recipes that I can use for the rest of these pears? I've seen some with brown sugar and spices that look good, but I want tried and true recipes - I don't want to experiment when it takes so much time to can.

[jmcarthur8]

I just put up another 8 jars of pear slices in light syrup, but I added a splash of almond extract to the sugar syrup after cooking it down. Can't wait to chill a jar and try a taste.

I still have another couple dozen pears to do something with pronto. They are perfectly ripe today, so I may bake a pear crisp with some of them, and make more of the pureed jam with the rest, but add the ginger/cardamom to some.

[jmcarthur8]

AreBe, I like the idea of the vanilla, cinnamon or ginger/cardamom. All sound wonderful. I think I will mix it up and do a few jars of each. I also like that they are not overloaded with sugar.

LNG212, I do have the Ball Blue book (that's where I got the recipes I made so far). I will look for the almond one that you like. It sounds delicious.
Thanks to all!

[LNG212]

I hope you find the recipe. It had vanilla bean along with all the almond stuff. It's really good. And then morwen gave me the idea (in another thread which I can't find right now) to use the leftover juice/syrup after eating the fruit out of the jar to make drinks with. A little of that pear/almond/liqueur "syrup" with some seltzer water is really tasty!

[jmcarthur8]

Oh, goody, you just made my day. We use our sodastream for fizzy water all the time, and I'm always experimenting with juices to jazz it up. Almond in pear would make me swoon. Yum.

[LNG212]

Okay this is just too funny. We have a sodastream too! Love it. :)

[jmcarthur8]

;-)

[LNG212]

We enjoyed the halved-pears with almonds & almond liqueur from the Ball Blue book. We quartered the pears - if I recall, we used seckel pears which held their shape/texture quite nicely. If you don't have the ball book and want the recipe, I can post it.

[AreBe]

We have two 'sand' pear trees in out backyard and mostly make pear butter, seasoned with vanilla, cinnamon or ginger/cardamom (our favorite).

Pear Butter
Cooks.com

Cook ripe pears in very little water until soft. (I add 1-2 tsp of lemon juice to keep color light.) Run pear mix through food mill, will look like applesauce.

Place pulp into large kettle. For every gallon of pulp add:
6 c. sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon

Being very careful not to burn, cook pulp until boiling and boil until thick enough to spread. Use a cold plate to determine if thick enough. Process in jars.