Preserving Pears: drying method

It is that time of year when we are busy preserving summers bounty. Our old pear tree had another bumper crop so while I worked on pickles the last couple weeks the hubs worked on the pears.

We like to dry our pears and are still using the food dryer that my grandpa built many years ago. I believe he made three and I could not begin to count how much fruit has been dried over the years in just our hand~me~down dryer alone. It may take a little longer but the end result is the same...

...piles of Pears!

Next year we are thinking about canning some of our pears. Now that we have two pear trees there will be a lot more to preserve so it looks like we will have our work cut out for us. 

Have a Great Weekend!

Bumper Crop of Pears :: canning season

Our pear tree was loaded this year so, needless to say, we have a lot of preserving to do. 

In the past we have dried our pears however we have so many this year that we decided to try canning some as well.

I have canned pickles and peaches many times but never pears so this was a fun change.  

The pears do take a bit more time as the skin is not as quick and easy to peel as peaches and the core is not quite as convenient to remove as popping out a pit. Thankfully though I had help with peeling and coring.

Mr. Wonderful chipped in and made the process go much faster. 

We only had enough time to put up one canner full because of our schedule however that gave us a chance to conduct a little taste test to be sure we had it right before continuing. 

The results were great so we are gearing up for another canning day very soon. 

In the meantime, there are plenty of Pear recipes to make. The hardest decision will be what to make first. 

You crown the year with your bounty, 

and your carts overflow with abundance.

Psalms 65: 11

Blessings!

Papa Picked a Peck of Pears!

And, oh my...

...there were plenty of pears to pick!

Of course I had to Prepare a Pear Pie with the Perfect Pears.

The remainder of our Plentiful Pears have been placed next to our Pretty Pumpkins. 

They make a Perfect Pair, don't ya think!

Have a Pearfect Day!

Gâteau Fondant Aux Poires ~ French Pear Cake

We have a bumper crop of pears this year and they are

ripe and ready for picking! 

Since the pears are extra large and so heavy they are beginning to drop off the tree which causes a lot of bruising. The good news is there are still plenty on the tree to pick for baking and drying, however time is of the essence.  

One of my favorite fall desserts is pear pie which I made last week. YUM. Unfortunately, not everyone in the family likes it so I have been searching for a new dessert, made with pears, that everyone would enjoy and I believe I have found just the thing. 

I recently came across this easy recipe for an amazing

 French Pear Cake that seemed to fit the bill.

I made it over the weekend and served it for breakfast

{ since I couldn't wait until dinner }.

It was wonderful!

Have a beautiful Monday!

Food Week :: Pear Pie

Our pear trees are loaded with fruit again this year. In fact, it might be the best crop we have ever had.

The first ripe pears are always used for our favorite fresh Pear Pie.

Our mother always made this delicious Pear Pie for our family with pears picked from their trees so it brings back wonderful memories every time I make it.

The crop was great this year so pies will not be the only thing made with all these beautiful pears.

Some will be canned, some dried and hopefully a batch or two of pear chutney will be preserved as well. YUM!

Happy Wednesday!

Tomatoes, Apples and Pears . . . Oh my!

It is harvest season and our tomatoes are on as well as our strawberries!

Fall is in the air and even my tea is ready for the change of seasons!

We pick bowls full of tomatoes every day so enough to make soups and sauces and even some leftover to give away.

Pesky moles are also wreaking havoc in our yard. UGH! This is one of many mounds in the front and backyard. YIKES. 

Can’t seem to stop them so meanwhile, we are cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

A lot of tomato soups and sauces made with our bounty of San Mariano tomatoes as well as other varieties.

Lots of Pears & Apples too! (Multiple varieties of both)

The hubs dried some and also is trying something new. He is fermenting the pear juice which is called Perry when it is finished. We will see how that turns out, as we have no idea what to expect. 

Pears, apples (at least 2 or 3 varieties), cucumbers, tomatoes, Brussels Sprouts, all still producing or will be harvested soon.

Lots of great produce just a few steps away!!

Happy Monday!!

bumper crops

It seems as if all of our plants and flowers are bigger than usual this year 

especially our

PEAR tree!

I have never seen so many pears on our tree before. The heavy, overloaded branches are being held up by supports

but the limbs still cannot hold the weight of so much fruit

so this is what we find each morning, noon and night.

I think we will need to start picking the pears sooner than later and let them ripen off the tree. 

{I can hardly wait to get out my pear recipes!}

● ● ● 

We have a boatload of tomatoes too

and have been patiently waiting for them to turn RED. 

 Finally on Sunday, we found our

 first 2 RIPE tomatoes

of the season!!!

Always plenty of yard work to do,

especially in the summer.

the pears are on

Our pears were beginning to fall so we went ahead and picked the tree this week. 

So far I have made two Pear Pies and we have dried two batches. We'll have more to dry once the rest of them ripen up. 

Happy Friday!

Harvest Time

Our Apples and Pears were beginning to fall so it was time to pick the trees.

The Apples are big and plentiful this year.  

Most of the Pears are extra large and not many flaws. 

Since both were big beginning to drop it was time to pick to avoid bruises.

Great year for our fruit trees!

Happy Wednesday!