Despite the rather fall-like weather, we’re still eating plenty of summer goodness from the garden. Fresh cucumber, ripe tomatoes, green beans, chard, and more grace each of our meals.
There have been a few BLT sandwiches served with sides of roasted rutabagas or squash fresh from the garden. A simple meal to be sure but there’s something so very elegant about a tomato still warm from the garden sunshine served with local bacon and garden fresh lettuce. All the fresh vegetables are so very good for our bodies and our souls.
Of course, there’s plenty of preserving going on too. This past weekend we focused on pears. Pears were sliced and dehydrated, some were put in jars with an extra light sugar syrup and still others were pureed and cooked down into a pear butter lightly spiced with star anise. While I know the season of fresh will be coming to end in another month or so, it is so very wonderful to know that we’ll still be eating garden goodness all winter long.
What’s happening in September kitchen?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I noticed that you didn’t peel your pears when canning. How does that turn out? Honestly, I’d never thought of not peeling them but it would be so much less work. Opinions, please?
I agree, never tried canning pears without peeling. Do the peels get tough? or cause an ‘off’ flavor?
I’ve never peeled my pears when canning and I don’t notice any off flavor. In fact, pears are one of my favorite canned fruits. It just seems so wasteful to me to toss the peels/skin.
I don’t peel much when canning except peaches really…
I’ve never peeled my pears, and this is the first time I’ve found someone else who doesn’t! Hooray for us! Unlike peaches or apples where peels get bitter or tough, it seems as though the pear skins lend a wonderful color but are so fine that you’re unaware of them as you’re eating. Yum.
I’ve got 28 quarts put up, and ran out of wide-mouth jars. Stopping at the feed store in the morning to see if there are any left on the shelf… and if not, then it’s going to be a bounty year for pear sauce, dried pears, chutney, and pear jam!