Pear Honey

I am lucky enough to have two pear trees in the yard in my new house. The one pear tree we have know about since we bought the house, but Lenny just found the second pear tree while I was away at the State Fair of West Virginia. The first pear tree has very little pears, but the second pear tree has pears like you would buy at the grocery store. The only problem is that we found this tree after most of the pears had fallen off and gone bad. I cannot wait till next year because hopefully we will be able to get a lot more pears from this tree.

Anyways ever since we found out about the pear tree my dad has talked about Pear Honey that his mother used to make. Therefore when I got back home from the fair and discovered that the pears were ripe I called my dad to get the recipe. I think that the pear honey is really good. I was a little skeptical about it when he first mentioned it, but it actually has a honey taste to it.


Ingredients:
5 pounds of pears
10 cups of sugar
2 cups of crushed pineapple
11 1/2 pint jars

Directions:
Peel, core, and slice the pears.
Grind the pears up in a food processor.
Mix pears, sugar, and pineapple in a large pan.
Cook until the pears are clear.
Pour into 11 1/2 pint jars and place in a hot water bath the seal.

Peach Jam

I love having fruit trees. So far I have made 16 half pints of Peach jam with at least enough peach left to make 6-7 more half pints.

Ingredients:

4 cups chopped peaches

2 TBSP lemon juice

5 ½ cup granulated sugar

1 pouches of Certo Crystals

6-7 1 cup (1/2 pint) sterile jars and lids

Directions:

BRING boiling-water canner, half full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.

PEEL and pit peaches. Finely chop or grind fruit. Measure exactly 4 cups prepared fruit into 6- or 8-qt. saucepot. Stir in lemon juice. Stir in pectin. Bring to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.

STIR sugar into prepared fruit in saucepot. Bring to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

LADLE immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. (If lids springs back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

Recipe from the Certo package and picture from my kitchen.