Spiced Pear Jam

Dec 26, 2013

It’s no secret that I love both pears and jam. Weirdly, though, I’ve never had pear jam and I’ve been jonesin’ to try some.

I’d bookmarked a bunch of different pear jam recipes, but when I went through them all nothing really jumped out as the right one. I didn’t have a vanilla bean, I didn’t want to caramelize them ahead of time, etc. So I decided to wing it and combine different elements with some common sense to make amazing, delicious pear jam.

The first thing I had to figure out was whether I had to use pectin. I’ve avoided that in my jam making so far, but in doing research I found out that pear is a low-pectin fruit (apples have tons) so I probably needed to use it. Luckily, it was way simpler than I expected. I also picked a great combination of spices—cinnamon, ginger, cardamom (great with pears), and almond extract. I used a combination of honey and brown sugar, but only a total of a cup for the entire batch. A lot of recipes called for SO much more sugar, but I don’t see why it would need it.

Jam is a great Sunday afternoon activity, because you can put a batch on and still be getting other things done while it cooks. You need to monitor occasionally, but it’s not a high-maintenance task. And once you make a batch, it’ll last you for a long time—I usually make a big batch and eat on it for 3-4 months (my go-to lunch is homemade peanut butter & jelly on whole grain bread).

After I filled all my jars, I had a few spoonfuls leftover, and had an amazing brainwave. I piled the jam on top of my freshly-baked molasses cookies. REVELATION. Seriously, the spices all went together so well, the textures were amazing, and the crunch of both the pears and the sugar on the cookies was like the embodiment of fall.

I told my mom about it and she goes, “That’s totally unnecessary, molasses cookies are great on their own*.” Me: “SO not the point. It’s so good!”

* True, they are amazing.

Celebrating the start of fall (Louise’s Best Apple Butter Ever)

Oct 30, 2012

No question, it is fall in Georgia! There’s a chill in the air, the leaves are turning all manner of colors, co-workers are arguing over SEC football, and I’m getting cravings for comfort food.

You know what else says “fall”? Apple butter. Well, technically anything apple + cinnamon, but apple butter is definitely high up on the list.

I snagged a bag of pretty Galas at Trader Joe’s last week with apple butter in mind, but had never made it before. I browsed several recipes on Pinterest, but then my mom told me about this recipe that a friend of the family makes. My mom said it’s the best apple butter she’s ever had, so I was sold. The better part? No peeling necessary–you keep the peels on, the pectin in the peels helps it solidify.

I’ll post the recipe as I was given it at the bottom of the page, but I made one big tweak. The amount of sugar it called for seemed extreme, so I decreased it significantly. I only used just under a cup and a half of brown sugar in the whole batch, and it still turned out sweet and delicious.