Bartlett Dreams

28 september 2012 . wednesday . (day six hundred thirty-two)

Our Bartlett pear tree had quite the lackluster performance this year.  By the time my fancy-pants Lehman's fruit picker arrived, I was able to harvest all of 10 pears.

Thankfully, J. brought home a bucket of [very ripe] pears.  We were given a generous 25+ pounds!  I spent all of one evening making a cardamom spiced Bartlett Pear Butter.  The recipe starts with chopped pears (no pealing, no coring).  Later the solids are separated with a food mill.  ...time-consuming but easy.

I spent the entirety of another evening making a lemony Bartlett Pear Preserve.





The few remaining not-too-ripe pears were dried.

Small Batches, or, Harvest Shrinky Dinks

12 september 2012 . wednesday . (day nine hundred eighty-nine)

Because the tomatoes are ripening at such a slow pace this year, I've opted to dry rather than can the surplus.  

16 september 2012 . sunday . (day nine hundred eighty-six)

I've never actually tried to make anything using dried tomatoes,* but they're supposed to be quite versatile (as paste or sauce, in soups or stews, etc).  We'll see.

*They're always eaten up far too quickly as snacks.  Mmm...

Re-Source

These pears were foraged from a few trees in the city.  Isn't it nice when landscaping is edible?  It's the perfect combination of pretty and practical.

I raw packed and canned nine pints in a very light syrup.  When the rest of the pears ripened, I did a little dehydrating.