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I spent a sweet autumn afternoon this week over at the old farmhouse making pear butter. I didn’t really have time to make pear butter. I didn’t have a particular hankering for pear butter. In fact, I didn’t have any pears.
But Georgia did.
She had a big old bunch of them she’d gotten through a friend who has a pear tree. She can’t see well enough to read directions and she can’t take all the cutting up and stirring by herself anymore. Someday, when I’m old, I hope somebody will come help me make pear butter, too. Even if they don’t care about having any pear butter. And since Georgia doesn’t like to come over the rocky road to my house, or mess up her own house, we decided to meet at the old farmhouse.
Several days earlier, she’d called me to tell me about her upcoming pear bounty. “What should we do with the pears?” she asked. This is Georgia’s way of telling me she wants me to help her. She talks about what “we” are going to do with no preamble. I told her I’d check my recipes and find something. A few days later I gave her the choice between pear jam and pear butter. Another day or two later she decided on pear butter. Every time I talked to her, I said, “How are the pears looking?” And she’d say, “They aren’t ready yet.” Georgia doesn’t see very well, and when I got there on the day she told me it was time, half the pears were rotten and unusable, but we got enough out of them to make one batch of pear butter.
I’d forgotten (already!) what it’s like to cook in the kitchen at the old farmhouse.
Or more exactly, I’d forgotten what it was like to cook in the old farmhouse kitchen without my own things there. I was busy, busy, busy, and not thinking, and it’s almost as if I expected to show up and find the old farmhouse kitchen set up just as I’d left it right before I packed to move out.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite the case. The old farmhouse kitchen is filled to the rafters with all sorts of things, but often not what you’re looking for. When I moved in there, the shelves and drawers were packed full of old dishes and odd implements, and things literally fell out of cabinets when you opened them. I spent the first few months there packing up a lot of things, adding organizational shelving and drawer inserts, and bringing in my own things in order to make the kitchen functional, semi-convenient, and pseudo-modern. I moved it all out when I left, and moved the old things back in.
And so we scrambled around and came up with the things we needed. We cut the pears and weighed them. (A kitchen scale! One of several things at the old farmhouse that I do covet.)
And then I said, “We need a big pot.” I was struck suddenly by the awesome fact that my big pot was not there any more. It was back at my new farmhouse a few miles away over the rocky road. Georgia said, “I suppose there’s one in the cellar.”
Yeah, along with the spiders, bats, and trolls. Okay. So I went to the cellar and came back with a miniature witch’s cauldron to cook the pears in.
It wasn’t really that bad. After I scrubbed the dead bugs out of it.
People! Do not be alarmed! We are cooking at the old farmhouse! We must be prepared for anything and willing to overcome all obstacles. (The mantra of anyone living in a 100-year-old farmhouse. I learned it well.)
While the pears were simmering, we chit-chatted a bit and then I checked around to see what was new. My cousin is running for re-election, so signs were posted and available. I took several back with me. I told Georgia, “I’ve never posted a political sign in my life, but for you, I will.” (I’m not a political person.)
They have a new “foundling” cat. Her name is Trouble. She likes to hang out around the barns where I parked my car.
My cousin has also been grinding cornmeal for the Black Walnut Festival.
They’ve been bagging it up in the cellar porch to sell at the festival on Saturday.
Since this process takes place in the cellar porch at the old farmhouse, usually I’m involved, helping with the machine that snaps the ties on the bags. This year, I wasn’t there.
However, I made off with an overfull bag of fresh cornmeal for myself! (Look for my cousin’s cornmeal stand across the street on the backside of the courthouse if you’re at this weekend’s Black Walnut Festival!) Fresh-ground cornmeal makes the best cornbread you’ve ever had in your life.
And then we chit-chatted some more and the pears got soft. Pear butter time!
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How to make Pear Butter:
6-7 pounds pears
4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup orange juice
Core, peel, and slice pears. Cook in a large pot with 1/2 cup water until soft. Process in a food mill or food processor (or just mush, which is what I did). Add, sugar, grated orange peel, nutmeg, and orange juice. Simmer slowly until mixture thickens and rounds up on a spoon. (May take an hour or so. Enough time to wander around outside the 100-year-old farmhouse and take a few pictures.) Stir frequently. Ladle hot butter into jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Put on lids and bands. Process in a hot water bath for ten minutes.
We canned them in the big canning pot on the gas stove in the cellar porch.
Don’t know how to can? Learn how here.
This recipe should make about 7 to 8 half-pint jam jars, but who knows. Georgia was in charge of bringing jars and that means you can expect anything.
I managed to come up with enough jars with lids that matched to make three jars that were roughly pint-size or thereabouts, one regular jam-size jar, and one smaller jar (not pictured) that had no lid so Georgia just covered it with foil and took it home for immediate use.
And I’m here to tell you, I’ve never had pear butter before, I didn’t have any particular desire for pear butter, but the aroma of orange and nutmeg and fruit simmering…….. Wow. And the pear butter? Spectacular.
I’m a pear butter fan now.
I kinda like Georgia, too.
See this recipe at Farm Bell Recipes and save it to your recipe box.
See All My Recipes
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This past weekend we picked pears from our tree and were wondering what to do with them. I suggested pear butter but hadn’t gotten around to finding a recipe yet. I’m going to use yours. Thank you!
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Brings back good memories!
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First off, what a great day with Georgia, the old farm house, the rummaging around for needed things, the coveting of old things, and canning – SPECTACULAR.
Now…. I have three wild PERSIMMON trees that are PROLIFIC this year (nothing like the last five years).
Have you got anything on making jam, butter, preserves, juice, something!!!
I’ve looked on the web, but it doesn’t tell me how to get the delicious sweet pulp, away from the confounding gi-normus seeds in order to process.
HELP HELP ANYBODY I can’t handle letting these small, delectable goodies go to waste.
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http://www.ehow.com/how_2170083_make-persimmon-jam.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art
Some have you just cut the seeds out.
http://www.ehow.com/how_9220_make-persimmon-bar.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art
Using soft persimmons
The sweet, date-like consistency of hachiya persimmons makes them a good choice for puddings, cookies, cakes, and custard. The pulp is prepared from fully ripened persimmons, which have been washed and had the leaves removed. The fruit is crushed through a colander or food mill to separate the pulp from the seeds and skin. The pulp then may be used immediately or frozen for later use.
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And FYI: You’ve been nominated.
http://heatherharper.blogspot.com/2008/10/i-heart-your-blog.html
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Dealing now with insurance adjustors and contractors.
I remember last year when Suzanne was innocently driving through a creek when her vehicle flooded out. We parked our jeep in the driveway (15 feet above sea level) and it got flooded out. So, we are looking for a new car, too.
Our Princess’s school just reopened, the kids were out for 18 days and the school board is still trying to figure out how to recover those days.
Some of the kids she has been going to school with since kinder (she’s 11) aren’t coming back. Some other kids are lucky, they are living in a FEMA hotel. But most hotels are full of relief workers, so some island residents now live in tents set up by the Red Cross.
We’re lucky, we only had a few inches of water in the house. We have friends who lost everything.
Reading this blog used to be what I considered normal. We’ll get there soon.
I know this post doesn’t have anything to do with pear butter, but this short visit was a great escape.
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Pear butter is the food of the gods. Seriously. The first time I cooked up a batch there was no need to process it in a canning bath because my family ate the entire batch within days. Pear butter spread on pork cutlets, on toast, on apples, on sandwiches and spoonfuls eaten like ice cream.
The cooking and stirring process is quite tedious. It needs to be reduced down to the smoothest, most delicious consistency. It’s awesome and worth the work.
- Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife
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DeeBee–West Virginia is the land of plenty, that’s for sure! (Not the kind of plenty with dollar signs for its residents, but it IS a state of incredible natural resources.)
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My daughter was thinking about mac and cheese the other night. I linked to Monday’s post. I don’t know if she used the recipe but your writing cracked her up, and she delved a bit deeper to some of your other posts.
I proselytized!
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And Mary, Persimmon pudding is on the list of possibilities.
What a GREAT PLACE to start the day :love:
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Trouble the cat cracked me up…he had the look of “don’t mess with me…don’t touch me, I’m electric”!! LOL
Wow, Pear butter. That was very interesting to read about and see. Thank you Suzanne! I am learning so much about farm life! I like it! :mrgreen:
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I love your blog and the pear butter looks great. I have done a bit of canning and am interested to know how you achieve a seal using previously used jar lids. Do the jars reseal after the water bath? Is the shelf life the same as you get with the standard ring and lid combo by Ball or Kerr? If so I will consider this next time I whip up a batch of my jams.
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Did Trouble make her way to your home like that bag of cornmeal? :catmeow:
Princess looks every content!
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i have the best recipe for pear relish which is made with peppers and onions – sorta like a pickle relish…we eat it with black-eyed peas….and i want some freshly ground cornmeal! harvest time is the best time!
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Don’t cha just love Georgia!! I see she got her hat back from Clover. LOL
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I brought two jars of the pear butter home and I stored them in the fridge for extra security since they were reused lids. We’ll use them quick enough for fridge storage to work in case of an imperfect seal.
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I still have lots of apples to go and am about to try an apple chutney recipe. Though I think I’ll take a “look-see” at your Apple Rum Raisin Butter recipe first!
And, good luck to “cuz.”
And have fun at your festival.
And your slanted farmhouse looks just wonderful…
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P.S. I was recently the victim of plagarism (TODAY!) and I so know how you felt Suzanne. I am just shaking upset! And the way I discovered it was the moron inadverently joined the same forum as I was in and responded to a question I had (not knowing I was the owner of the blog) and I decided to check out his blog. He also had the nerve to post one of my vacation photos as his own!
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Oh, and the pear butter sounds delicious!
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-Patty
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I remember visiting relatives in WVA as a little girl. My family were coal miners and came from a very rural area. I remember using an outhouse and drinking well water from a bowl and ladle. I remember all the food was fresh and was made at home. Nothing came from a box, nor a package, nor had it ever been wrapped in plastic. I also remember nearly everything being fried (LOL).
The relatives I speak of have been gone a long time. I grew up in Michigan and live on an 11 acre farm full of fruit trees that my dad planted about twenty years ago. Until this year I’ve never attempted canning. No one taught me when I was younger, and I was always afraid I’d poision everyone. This summer I put away two cases of salsa, spaghetti sauce, and plain tomatoes. Today I tried your pear butter. It’s still cooking and smells wonderful.
Tomorrow I’m making apple butter and caramel apple jam. The deer might be upset because they have to share the fruit with me this year, but my kids love the sweet treats I made.
Thank you!!!
-Shannon
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Linda