Thanks!
Ann

Spiced Pear Sauce

Makes 5 to 6 8-oz. jars

8 large, juicy, ripe pears
3/4 cup brown sugar, or more to taste (I can't imagine I'd want more!)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves (I assume ground)

Prepare the preserving jars. Peel, core and dice the pears.

Combine all ingredients in your preserving pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low. Simmer, partially covered, for 20-25 minutes, or until the pears are soft (this seems like a long time for pears?). Stir occasionally (I would think stir often).

Remove from the heat and mash vigorously with a potato masher until the texture is fairly smooth. Return to a boil over medium-low heat, and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Taste the pear sauce and add additional sugar, if necessary. Once the pear sauce is uniformly hot and bubbling, remove from the heat.

Spoon the sauce into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe the rims clean. Seal according to manufacturer's directions. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (is this long enough?).

For 8-oz. jars 10 minutes will be OK, but for anything larger (i.e. pints) I'd go 15. If it's more comfortable, do the smaller jars at 15. It's not going to affect the quality.

Here's a link to an Oregon State Extension document on pears that you might find helpful.

Carol

Do you have apples? I like to do a combo apple-pear sauce (just fruit, with a little lemon to keep the colour and IF they're tart maybe a little sugar).

Nice on its own as part of breakfast, or with ice cream or gingerbread cake or over pancakes...

Zabby

Carol, that's funny, when I typed the recipe in I didn't even think about the fact that it said "sterilized"! I would have just done my normal routine anyway, funny.

Zabby, yes I do have apples. I usually do straight applesauce but you're right - an apple-pear combo would be yummy.

Thanks!
Ann

I was the same way the first time I canned applesauce, following a "recipe" carefully.

With experience and help from this forum, I learned that many fruits can be pureed and canned, with or without sugar, with or without lemon, and in various combinations.-It's one of the safest, most flexible things to can, and easy (I have a little food mill I run it through after it's cooked a bit, so there's no need to peel or core ahead of time!)

I make apple-pear sauce, apple-blackberry, apple-plum, apple-peach, sometimes apple-raspberry and apple-strawberry with fruits frozen earlier in the season. (I didnt much care for apple-blueberry.) And sometimes plain pear sauce, too.

Mostly we have it for breakfast as a hint of autumn goodness in midwinter --- a piece of zucchini bread from the freezer and a little dish of apple-plus sauce plus a banana starts the day off right...

Good luck and enjoy those pears!

Zabby

I did a batch with cardamom and ginger, some with brandy, and some with whole cranberries, which made for a delightful "polka dot" look in the jars.

Zabby