The Perfect Pear

Pears, pears and yes more pears! Forty lbs of perfect Comice pears. I wasn't sure if I was even going to attempt to can pears this year. All I really know about pears is that I love them with cheese, wine, and several appetizer type dishes. Otherwise, for me anyway, pears can be too grainy...But of course I started thinking of how great pears would taste in the dead of winter in a pear crumble, or enjoying fresh pears with cottage cheese for breakfast...hmm. I decided I would just go and take a look at the farmers market to see what they had and at what price. I had been reading about all types of pears that were in season and I knew Bartlet's were considered your canning pear. But I also knew Comice pears were so sweet and delicious. I figure its like wine, why cook with a wine you hate?? Well, why can with a pear I wasn't that in to? I went to the market and what'ya  know, out of Bartlett's....too bad. Comice??? Big beautiful crates of Comice :) $28  for 40 lbs. Deal! So here we go....

40lbs Comice Pears



Wash, wash




Peel,core and cut.





 

After making a sugar bath for the pears and letting them sit in a gentle boil take pears out of sugar bath and put in to sterile jars...aren't they gorgeous??http://www.pickyourown.org/pearhoney.htm I love this website its so  informational and believe me you never waste any of the fruit.



20 min bath



Save your peels for pear honey



Lovely.



Pear sugar bath. Save to use in pear tini's and pear honey.

Sirly loves to crow from up high.



Loves this old farm house..



What are you thankful for?



Pickled green heirlooms....

Have any green tomato's left on your plants?? Me too, I also had alot of green heirlooms that I didn't use for my  home made tomato sauce. Now the first thing that comes to my mind when thinking of green tomato's is fried green tomato's of course!!Don't you remember that part in the movie where she brings her friend the fried green tomato's? I always wished I could have eaten at there little cafe.YUM I wish I had some right now and that was the initial goal. Unfortunately I just didn't have  time this week to make them. But I did have time to make Pickled green tomato's. I  am always searching the Internet and   books to find the next most fabulous canning project and  while pears are about to make there way into my kitchen I came across this fun little recipe from h://www.foodinjars.com/2010/10/small-batch-pickled-green-tomatoes/ttp

and while I have never had a pickled green tomato I can't possibly see how this could be anything but great!



First cut and core your tomato's, then get your garlic out of the skins.




Prepare your brine and gather your seasoning's. Add to sterile jars bay leaf,garlic, dill seed and peppercorns.



Fill jars with tomato's and brine. ( 1/4 inch head space)



10 min water bath...pop!



Sirley and Bella chilling on the porch:)



Heirloom Tomato Basil Sauce

29 lbs of organic heirloom tomato's



 Aren't these baby's beautiful?? That's exactly what I thought when I saw them. I literally couldn't take my eyes off them until I had them safely in my cart! I had been thinking about making my own tomato sauce and going back and forth on whether are not to invest in a pressure cooker with all the talk about tomato's. Well today my mind was made up. I had these insanely beautiful tomato's and I would never forgive myself  if I didn't make my own sauce. And so it begins.. oh first I should tell you that I did run to the store to see if there was that one pressure cooker I had been eyeing for months but of course it was gone the day I decided to purchase it. Anyway I will be investing in one soon. Lets face it I'm gonna need it!
 For my recipe today I was very cautious about only using garlic, onion and basil, and about adding the lemon juice to each jar before filling. I followed Ball Blue Books recipe and also a recipe I found at http://locallemons.com/local_lemons/2009/09/canning-tomato-sauce.html  I sort of followed hers to start and then finished with ball blue book for safety guidelines, times etc.


First I roasted them with olive oil, garlic and onions.

In so many recipes I had found they all started with blanching them in a hot water bath and then an ice water bath to peel the skins. But why not roast them to enhance the flavor and then there already to peel. Genius.


I then sauteed the onions and garlic in the same pan  I roasted them in.

After sauteing them I put them in a stock pot. I peeled the tomato's and squeezed them into the same pot.
Until they were all gone, I now know that next year I will be buying at least 70 lbs of tomato's because even though this one pot took me almost a half day, I know deep down that regular old tomato sauce from the store just won't do. Not anymore, how could it? Not after tasting and smelling this.



Aren't  these jars cute? I found them at Walmart. There Better Homes and Gardens.



4 quarts and 3 pints..yep that's it.



All I want to do now is make pasta..



Love love love this!!



This is all with in 4 months:) and I didn't take pictures of the other shelfs..

 And I don't plan on stopping.....anytime soon:)

Figs please, I'll take all you've got.

Monday morning rolls around fast,before you know it Mom, Parker and I our off to the local farmers market on a serious mission.... I'll take all the figs you've got! Please:) The nice lady looks at me and says I think that's it right there. I look to see only 4 pints,  I asked if she wouldn't mind checking the back for me, and as she did I couldn't help but to notice the beautiful yellow, red and green organic heirloom tomato's starring at me... almost calling to me. As I'm reaching for the last crate of heirlooms, the nice lady comes out with a flat of black figs!! Yes!! I mean thank you so much:)

One Crate..so much potential.



I think for now it will have to be...



Brandied Fig jam.

 I saw this recipe on a blog and thought it looked amazing, I think its originally adopted from Epicurious.com

http://www.talkoftomatoes.com/2010/09/28/jarred-fig-jam/
Above is the site I got the recipe from it was so easy!



9 cups chopped figs



Put into dutch oven or a big sauce pot



Cover with 4 cups sugar,1 lemon zested, 3/4 cup good brandy



Let sit at room temp for one hour, stir occasionally



Bring to boil, then hard simmer for 40-45 mins

Fill sterile jar's leaving 1/4 in head space,  cap and seal.



Water bath 10 min
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_home.html
This is a great website for canning safely.

This will be great on freshly made scones or biscuits!!

This was my first time making jam and I have to say it was the simplest thing I have ever canned:)
I did another batch the following morning and out of one flat I got 8 half pints and 7 of the little jars for gifts. I am also thinking fig martini..How cute would that be instead of olives have one fig in the glass, some brandied jam on the bottom and chilled berry vodka with a dash of berry bubbly?? I think I'll have to test this idea.
My friend just called and told me her fig tree is almost ready for picking...to be continued.


Any ideas on a name for this cute gal?



Roasted pumpkin seeds...



 Its already October and I couldn't be happier. It's fall and whats not to love about fall? The grass is green, there's a slight chill in the air and all I want to do is cook cozy fall meals and walk around our small acreage bundled up in a sweater with my hot cup of fresh cider... Today my husband and I decided that we we needed to do just that.



Up at our family's and soon to be neighbors pond:)



Sirly and one of my gals..



After our walk we decided that it was time to carve our pumpkin. We were planning a trip today to the pumpkin patch but the weather wasn't as good as we had hoped. So for now anyway our store bought one will have to do. I had a craving for roasted butter pumpkin seeds...





 

I haven't carved a pumpkin in years and this was Parker's first so it was pretty exciting! Jason of course took over once I got the pumpkin seeds out since my mission turned from pumpkin to seed rather quickly... all I could think about was getting those seeds on my pan and sprinkling them with kosher salt and butter! That's exactly what  I did. 350 for about 20 Min's and done. There crunchy and salty and delicious. I love  them as a snack and of course on salad. I am also going to do an olive oil and thyme roasted pumpkin seed and then I thought I just had to make a curry seed but I'll be toasting those stove top style.



Rinse and dry

 

Parker thought the pumpkin tasted good just the way it was.





Again Parker with his mature pallet:) taste testing.





Roasted butter and salted pumpkin seeds.


All in all it was a pretty great day. What could be better then being at home with your family enjoying all of the beautiful gifts we been given and making sweet and savory memories...