I'm back at my mother's, and this time it's the pears that are under attack. This was the scene at 7am:
By 10am they had magically transformed into two jars of spiced pears and three jars of pear and apricot jam:
Spiced pears
Ingredients
1/2pt white vinegar
1 big stick cinnamon
12 cloves
2tsp whole allspice
1lb sugar
2lb pears
Method
- Sterilise the jars and a jug
- Bring all the ingredients except the pears to a gentle boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved
- Peel the pears. If you're really clever you can do this by dunking them in boiling water and slipping the skins off. Since over here in South Wales we don't grow namby pamby pears that shed their skins at the drop of a hat, I had to use a peeler. Chop them in half and remove the cores
- Drop each pear half into the vinegar as soon as it is peeled and cored (pears go brown very quickly in air)
- Simmer for 5 mins or so until the pears are soft, then scoop out the pears with a slotted spoon and pack into sterilised jars
- Turn up the heat on the vinegar and boil it hard until it has reduced to a more syrupy consistency (about 5 minutes I think, maybe a bit longer depending on how impressive your hob it), then pour over the pears.
- Seal the jars and store for at least a month before eating.
That's all for now!
(I should add - these are only the windfalls, there's a whole tree full of the buggers).
By 10am they had magically transformed into two jars of spiced pears and three jars of pear and apricot jam:
The spiced pears are lovely (recipe to follow), but I'm not entirely convinced about the jam. I think it will be really nice on ice cream or stirred into yoghurt, but I'm not sure I'd want to spread it on my breakfast toast - it's quite rich, and would perhaps have been improved by the addition of a bit more lemon and some spice or other. I might play around with the recipe before I post it. But here's the pear one:
Spiced pears
Ingredients
1/2pt white vinegar
1 big stick cinnamon
12 cloves
2tsp whole allspice
1lb sugar
2lb pears
Method
- Sterilise the jars and a jug
- Bring all the ingredients except the pears to a gentle boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved
- Peel the pears. If you're really clever you can do this by dunking them in boiling water and slipping the skins off. Since over here in South Wales we don't grow namby pamby pears that shed their skins at the drop of a hat, I had to use a peeler. Chop them in half and remove the cores
- Drop each pear half into the vinegar as soon as it is peeled and cored (pears go brown very quickly in air)
- Simmer for 5 mins or so until the pears are soft, then scoop out the pears with a slotted spoon and pack into sterilised jars
- Turn up the heat on the vinegar and boil it hard until it has reduced to a more syrupy consistency (about 5 minutes I think, maybe a bit longer depending on how impressive your hob it), then pour over the pears.
- Seal the jars and store for at least a month before eating.
That's all for now!
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