Recipe: Pear Preserves

On Sunday, our friends Karen and Moshe dropped off a giant bag of pears from their tree. Since they live 4 blocks away, this makes for some very local ingredients! The pears are giant and crisp Bartlett's, and there were so many, I wasn't quite sure what to do with all of them. So on the Seasonally Seattle Facebook fan page, I asked for everyone's favorite pear recipe.

My Aunt Anne responded immediately about making a pear preserve, using pears instead of berries in the Pectin box recipe. So today I got to work, and make my first ever "Freezer Jam". Freezer Jam is a great option for those of us without canning gear or little to no experience. It's fast, it's easy, and it keeps for a year in your freezer, or three weeks in your refrigerator.





Here's what you need:

2 1/2 cups chopped pears
5 1/2 cups (exactly - no substitutions, otherwise it will not set properly) sugar (I used Organic Cane Sugar)
2 Tbs Lemon Juice
1 Small box of Pectin
3/4 cup of water

 1 > Chop pears in a food processor, or by hand, to a point that you have 2 1/2 cups of pulp and chunks

2 > Put pear mixture into a bowl, add lemon juice, stir completely, let sit for 10 minutes
3 > Meanwhile, combine pectin and water in a small sauce pan, stir, bring to a boil, stirring constantly
4 > Boil for 1 minute, remove from heat
5 > Add to pear mixture, stir for 3 minutes until the sugar crystals have disappeared

6 > Pour into plastic containers. Let sit on the counter for 24 hours, then put into your freezer or fridge. Let it thaw in your fridge if you choose to freeze.

DIY : Freezing Tomatoes

After burning through a significant amount of our canned tomatoes, we started to worry again that we wouldn't get through the winter without running out. Not wanting to can another round without my mom's supervision, I decided to try freezing them. It was actually really easy, and if you are in Seattle, we found a 20lb box of #2 heirloom tomatoes for $25, which is a steal. I would highly recommend this to people short on time--what a great way to enjoy fresh, local and organic tomatoes throughout the winter without canning!

Step 1.

Buy your tomatoes! Now is a great time to find them at your local farmer's market on the cheap...be sure to ask if they have #2's!

Step 2.
Set up two pots. Boil one, put ice in the other.

Step 3.


Set up your work space for after the tomatoes come out of the water.

Step 4.


Once the water is boiling, drop the tomatoes in for 2 minutes. For larger tomatoes or heirlooms with quite a few rough patches on them, I'd leave them in for 4 minutes. You can tell they are ready to come out of the water when the skins crack or start to peel off.

 Step 5.


With a slotted spoon, transfer them into the pan with ice water. This makes the skins come off easier, and makes them easier to handle as well.

Step 6.


Put the iced tomatoes in a bowl, move them to your work space. For tough stems, I simply cut off the tops of the tomatoes and peel from there. Some stems will come right off. Cut off rough patches, and the rest of the skin should slip right off.

Step 7. 


After peeling, dice into large chunks, and transfer into freezer quality ziploc bags.


FREEZE! They will keep in your freezer for up to a year.