Canning Cookbook- Pear Blueberry and Lavender Preserves

Since my good friend Janet invited the Chef and I over to pick pears a while back, I have been mulling over what exactly to do with them. I could have done the usual, pear sauce, pear jam, sliced or halved pears in syrup. But that's no fun and not very creative.

So I've been browsing. A lot. Websites, blogs, Facebook pages, cookbooks, emailing with other canning nuts. Pretty sure chutney is going to be on the agenda but then today out of nowhere fellow foodie and blogger Bia Rich (Rich and Sweet on Facebook or Bia's Rich and Sweet Kitchen and she happened to be working on a pot of Pear, Raspberry and Rosemary Preserves. Hmmmmmmmm, brain cells kick on...... pears- check, raspberries- no, but I DO have blueberries in the freezer.....hmmmmm..... rosemary, yes plenty of dried and fresh but what about lavender? I have a jar of dried blossoms from my own garden (as organic as I ever plan to be) and rarely get to use it...... should I ? Could I ? Oh yes !!!!

So I loosely followed Bia's recipe and came up with this-

Pear, Blueberry and Lavender Preserves

10 cups chopped peeled, cored pears
4 cups blueberries (I used frozen I had on hand- actually ended up being about 4 1/2 cups)
1 lemon, halved lengthwise then sliced thinly and seeded
7 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 TB lavender blossoms (I used dried ones from my own garden)

In a large stockpot I combined all ingredients.

Bring to boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 1 and 1/2 hours- 2 hours or until thickened.

At THIS point, I went down a different track, inspired by a recipe I found on Kats Canning Tidbits in which she lets the fruit mixture (in her case, just pears) sit in a cool place for 12-24 hours (for me it will be the fridge). I wanted to get the maximum lavender essence in my preserves.

The next day, I prepared my jars as usual, reheated the preserves, filled jars with 1/4 inch head space, etc etc and processed in boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

My recipe yielded 13 half pints- and looks (and tastes) soooo yummy. I'm not sure how I want to serve this when I finally open a jar- maybe to accent a chicken salad sandwich ??

Canning Cookbook- A Ball Blue Book Classic

Fall is in the air. Apples, pumpkins, and pears!! Tonight I needed something to make with a radar full of thunderstorms and no desire to leave the house at all. So I browsed the Ball Blue Book- the canning bible for us home canners and I found an awesome recipe that will use up the few pears I had in the house. I have a case of jelly jars I haven't even opened yet, so I figured, why not?

Pears. Limes. Fresh ginger. Can you tell I have been shopping in the big city? I try to make the most out of every trip to the city so pears, limes and fresh ginger went in the cart last week, and tonight, in the pot! Pear and Ginger Preserves are on the agenda and here is what you will need-

5 1/2 cups chopped pears- I used Bartlett and I did not peel- that's up to you

zest and juice of 3 limes

2 1/3 cups sugar

1 tb fresh freshly grated ginger root

Prepare 6 or 7 half pint jars and hold in hot water.

In a large saucepot combine all ingredients. Bring to boil and simmer until the mixture passes the gel test. Not familiar with the gel test? Put a saucer in the freezer and when a couple drops of the mixture forms a firm gel, it's ready to jar up!

Ladle the mixture into jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Fix lids and rings and place in hot water bath. Process for 10 minutes.

How does it turn out? Fantastic!! The color or the pears is subtle and the lime zest adds little green flecks- so pretty! It tastes like heaven!! The ginger, the lime, all of it shines through.This is a must-make!!!