Pears, pears, everywhere

A good friend of mine (the one with the ruby slippers) has a pear tree in her backyard that she doesn’t particularly care for. Luckily for me, she hasn’t gotten around to chopping it down yet, so I get an annual box full to do with what I will.

Since I’d already made my pear butter about a month ago, I needed to find something else to make with them. So on Sunday, I rolled up my sleeves, turned on the Vinyl Cafe, and peeled, cored, chopped and processed all 15 or so pounds. In the end I had 6 1/2 pints of Pear Honey and 8 pints of Pear Pumpkin sauce. I discovered that my trusty Swiss peeler (click on the pear butter link above to see a photo) and a melon baller make quick work of a large number of pears (a melon baller is the best pear corer ever invented).
Pear Honey is a syrup made with pears and a small amount of pineapple. It tastes surprising like real honey and will be delicious over pancakes, ice cream, oatmeal and homemade yogurt. It can be boiled longer to make it into a jam, but I wanted it to have a pourable consistency.
The Pear Pumpkin sauce is meant to be eaten like apple sauce. My version is a combination of pears, apples, pumpkin, maple syrup, vanilla, and spices (with just a touch of orange zest). It tastes like autumn in a bowl.
I’ve got a box of organic apples on the way from the Okanagan (BC’s hot spot and fruit growing mecca), so I’ll be keeping my peeler at the ready.