Pear preserves.

[japple]

My mom used to make pear preserves from hard, thick-skinned, flavorful pears that she got from a neighbor. It was wonderful stuff, made with paper thin lemon slices. I have been craving it, but can't find any of those pears like she used. Yesterday, I went to my 2 favorite apple orchards and bought several bags of apples. They also had locally grown Asian pears--the kind that you used to find in grocery stores wrapped in insulated sleeves, at a very reasonable rate, so I bought a bag thinking they might be similar enough to use for pear preserves. The skin is thick, they are watery, very crunchy, but have little flavor. Anyone have a suggestion on what I can combine them with to make a preserve that has lots of flavor. I have Mutzu, Evercrisp, Ludacrisp apples from the orchard, frozen homegrown blackberries and blueberries.

Suggestions please.

[woodsprite]

1. My grandmother made them too, and would only use

Seckle (or Seckel) pears. They were small as pears go but very flavorful and we’re only at our local orchard for a short time each year. She’d always get 2 bushels.

Wish I had her recipe 😟

[japple]

2. My mom used the recipe from the Ball Jar Blue Book. These pears seem a bit like Seckle pears

to me, but they are large fruits and they don't have the same intense flavor as the ones my mom used.

[ggma]

3. Asian pears...

Try letting them sit (or just use one to test) on your counter for a couple of days and then taste. I ate them all the time when I was in Korea; I believe they were the only fresh fruit I ate that whole year.

gg