canning whole pears

Last month my grandpa generously gave us basket after basket of fruit - pears, as well as Cortland and Yellow Delicious apples. (And a thanks to my parents for all of the help picking and transporting them!) We canned the pears in syrup and also froze apples for pie filling in vacuum sealed bags. The pears were fantastic. Slippery little buggers to peel and prep for canning, but I will be excited to try them this winter (which is starting to feel ever closer as the days get slightly colder)!

First, the haul.

 After peeling, the pears soak in lemon juice and water to prevent browning while you are still prepping the other pears.

Next, make a simple syrup to the desired thickness. We used a medium, which was the recommended, though you can do a heavy or light syrup as well.

Let the canning begin!

Onto the second shelf now in my grandma's canning cupboard. Next year we are going to be really organized about how we plan the canning sessions around what is "coming in" from the local harvest and the bounty of my family's gardens and trees. Instead of rushing to start early, we're going to save our energy for when everything comes on thick, and take time to do it properly. For being our first year, I'm pretty proud of what we've accomplished. I still want to can pickled peppers and jalapenos before the season is over, as well as applesauce if we can swing it!