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I have two pear trees. Both are loaded this year. One is under a HEAVY burden! This photo is from 2009, but the tree is this heavily laden or worse this year.

I should be ashamed of myself for not thinning in the spring. Branches and limbs are breaking...so DH will do another of his heavy prunings and it will be three or so years before I get pears again.

This are "hard" pears..GREAT for preserves. Not soft pears like you buy in the grocery store. They are a hardy variety and require no treatment with pesticides. You get a few bug-stung pears, but not many.

They make a good cobbler with a "bite" to it...not mushy.

DH has gotten to where he doesn't eat breakfast and I've given away so many canned jellies and preserves that I'm not making them any more.

These pears are delicious dried (like eating candy) or canned with a simple syrup (but DH doesn't like those).

Or...take an apple cake recipe and make pear cakes! A double batch (in my new 6 qt. Kitchenaide) bakes two tube pans or four loaves. Wrap in plastic wrap, slip in a freezer bag. They keep a long time! I have shared with my boss, Da Judge. DH and I have eaten one. I have 5 or 6 in the freezer.

Or maybe even better although DH claims yet again that he doesn't like chocolate and these are a waste...CHOCOLATE pear cake!

Gave one to Da Judge for her birthday and put 3 in the freezer. NOPE! When I get one out to cut, I'm not sharing with DH! I'll invite my BFFs over one evening when he's on his next motorcycle or fishing trip...

Yeah...one stuck because I flipped the pan over too soon. Doesn't affect the way it tastes though! I know...I ate the stuck part.

My Mom had a pear tree and she always made what she called "pear honey" -- but haven't had it in "forever" -- your breads look good and I think a pear bread would be wonderful!

Martha

Around here all the gals make pear butter...kinda like apple butter...I don't like those kind of pears!
Our neighbor has a tree that hangs a bit over our fence...they stink when they rot!
I keep cutting off the overhang but I need a ladder to reach the higher branches!

My mother loved those sand pears. She'd preserve them, pickle them, make cobbler or whatever. I never cared for them but my brother has a huge tree.

Oh, forgot to add that tomorrow night I'm making tomato pies, corn on the cob and salad for dinner. Invited the neighbors on both sides of us, since we'll be heading home early in the week.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Florida Farm Girl,

My neighbors have a pear tree like that... keifer (sp?) pears.

The first year they gave me some I made pear sauce.

I had hoped to get some again this year, to make pear juice. Not sure they will offer--only if they don't can the pears themselves do they offer me some. Her husband was sick that year.

I LOVE those pears!

I get a "mop" bucket (2 1/2 gallon I think) full every other day. Most of them are going to work with me. I don't have to beg anyone to take them. And have a jar of pear honey and a jar of pear preserves promised to me.

Oh... I remember now. When I was a kid, mom used to talk about "Keifer" pears with a sneer. Guess she didn't like them. lol I've never seen/eaten one myself. I bet I'd like the things you're doing with them.

I'm dealing with the two pecks (about 25 lbs.) of peaches I bought from the local mega-orchard two weeks ago. Have made a delish crumb-topped pie and am eating them out of hand. Have stashed 3 quarts in the freezer and need to get the rest in there pronto.

quote:

talk about "Keifer"

The neighbor does, too. Not sure why except they were a lot of work to eat raw. They supposedly don't get soft. She used to beat the pear on the tree trunk to mash it up a bit, to soften it to eat--bit by bit. Take a bite, beat on the tree trunk, take a bite, beat the on tree trunk.

You know, sounds like pretty good free, tasty therapy!!!

I love those pears. Love eating them while they are still "hard" and crunchy. One year, a friend of my Aunts, gave her some. She doesn't cook, so she gave them to me. I made pear bread and froze them. Was so good during the winter when I wanted something sweet. Would love to have your recipes for your pear breads. Wish you lived closer.....I would buy some of the pears from you. Don't know anyone around my area that have any pears. I've taken pears before and cut them up into salads. Either fruit salads, or added them to lettuce salads with cranberrys, nuts, etc. Then I've cooked some down and then frozen to use in cakes/breads when I had time to make them. All the above ideas sound so good.....pear jam, pear honey, pear butter......Yum.

OUMom, If you lived closer, I'd GIVE you all the pears you wanted! I have TWO trees! I posted the recipes on my blog. However, I'm certain any apple cake recipe will work...that's what my recipes called for originally.

I've been taking bags (one at a time because they are heavy) to work. Somebody always takes them. They are really getting ready now, so will put out the word for anyone who wants a lot of them to come get them. I got two buckets full this morning. Some I barely touched and they came off the tree in my hand!

I have no idea what variety these are, but according to the website below - they are most likely Kieffer. There are a couple of other possibilities.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.../2010/apr/pears.html

They come off the tree hard and crispy. But if you like soft and mellow, just let them sit on your counter for a couple of days...they will mellow. But that is when I throw them away. LOL That beating the straight-off-the-tree pear on the tree would definitely let you work out some aggression!

As for the rotting stink - I clean out from under mine daily. Keeps the ants, wasps, and bees away.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: KeepYouInStitches,

Just went to a class and canned some peaches. Maybe I will get some more and try it on my own. My mother used to can peaches, pickles, tomatoes and made grape jelly. Brings back good memories.

My grandmother canned. (I remember standing in a chair with one of her aprons tied under my armpits. I spooned EXACTLY one teaspoon of canning salt in each pint jar. She and Mama filled them with green beans. Or the time I skimmed the foam off the top of the grape jelly. Whenever they had their backs turned, I ate the foam. I got so SICK that night. LOL) My mother used her freezer. When I first married, we had no freezer and no space for one. So I went to the county extension office. The agent gave me several booklets on preserving and canning. I bought a pressure canner and a cold-pack canner. Talked with my grandmother and mother for their tips and cautions.

One we got a freezer, I froze all the vegetables and most of the fruits.

quote:

Originally posted by KeepYouInStitches:
(I remember standing in a chair with one of her aprons tied under my armpits.

Such a nostalgic, happy memory that I'm sure strikes a cord with many of us.

At least 30 years ago, when my DD was very small, I came across this poem in my Good Housekeeping magazine. I clipped it out and have saved it in a scrapbook ever since, to remind me of the precious year she was 4.

I think it's very sad that today, because the art of cooking for a family is nearly a total loss, it'll be a rare grown-up girl who has such sweet memories about her mom.

Slow Recipes
by Jonellen Heckler

Dragging your little chair across the floor
to be my "help," you stand
tiptoed upon it much too close
for me to stir ingredients,
open drawers or think.
The apron tied beneath your chin
reaches to your knees.
You wait
with silken hair and skin
like milkweed drifting from the pod,
wait
for me to measure so that
you can proudly pour.
We blend important things
in flowered bowls
using the long hand of a yellow clock
this year
while you are four.

Well that poem sure brought a tear to this granny's eye! My DGD and I spent many a happy hour in my kitchen cooking. She wrote about it when she selected me to be her "relative" they wrote an essay about in school. I will send it to her, wish I had known it when she was four!

Oh, my own DD is not into cooking!

KYIS, my friend has a wonderful pear tree, whose bounty she often shares with me. I have tried to get her to put a bottle around one of the buds and when the pear develops in it take it off and fill it with wine. Have you ever thought of doing that?

Sweet poem.

LoS
Yes, I've thought about the bottle. And once saw a photo of a square fruit - a box was secured around the stem while small.