Canning Pears with Jello

 

What beautiful fall weather we are having! I wish it would stay like this for a long time..( preferably about six months ) :)

 

Blue sky..

 

 

Fall blooms..

 

 

I felt prompted to get this post uploaded today since we are nearing the end of pear season. I want to share a few different ways of canning pears that we have enjoyed in the past.

Last week I got a bushel of Bartlett pears at a local market. They were still too green so I laid them out on newspaper on the basement floor.

 

 

Pears are probably my least favorite fruit to can and these pears weren’t very nice at all. Some were tiny and some had brown spots. They are delicious though! It’s very time consuming to core and peal them, especially if there’s one person to hundreds of pears. :/

 

 

I put them in a bowl of water to keep them from turning brown.

After each bowl-full, I cut them into bite size chunks.

 

Then on into the jars they went…

 

 

For the jello pears, I added one small box of jello per jar.

 

 

You can use whatever flavor you like.

Next fill the jar with water, to the neck.

 

For regular pears (without the jello) I mixed 3 parts water to 1 part white sugar. Growing up, we used to always boiled the water and sugar, but I don’t and it turns out fine.

I also filled the jars to the neck with the sugar water.

After wiping the rims and putting the lids and rings on, they were ready to cold pack.

I placed them on a cooling rack or jar rings (to elevate them) in the canner.

I added water to the neck of the jars. After the canner was at boiling point, I boiled them for about ten minutes.. just enough time to seal the lids.

Adding the jello, gives the pears a nice, colorful look. (kids love them)

The jello doesn’t completely set in the fridge, but gives the pears a great flavor!

Jello pears…

Regular pears…

It’s such a rewarding feeling of setting food on the table that was canned by me and I know what all is in it!

I have a project going on in my workshop that I will share with you one of these days. It involves the most awesome beadboard that I found at a sale. I don’t even need to do anything with the finish.. it’s perfect!

Okay, I know that had nothing to do with pears, but I needed to share!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

-Mary