The pantry is getting full (or, more adventures in canning)....

[hlmauera]

Last night, in spite of not feeling well and everyone being pretty beat, the three of us got together and canned pears and what we think will be Rosemary jelly (we aren't sure of the pectin levels so it may end up being syrup).


Pears are a fruit that ripens slowly over time, which means, if you have several boxes of pears, you will be canning pears multiple times over perhaps a couple of weeks. Mom handed me a box of pears last night that she didn't think would make it until Saturday. This is about half of the box



So we pealed, cored and sliced...





We made a simple light syrup of 2 cups water to 1 cup sugar. I canned a little less than half of the pears in that and then we added a little bit of ginger and canned the rest in that.




While the pears were canning, Marian went and butchered the herbs.



We plucked the rosemary out and put it in a pot to steep.




Between the ginger and the rosemary the kitchen was very fragrant. While the rosemary steeped, Trudi and Marian stripped the rest of the herbs and put them in the food drier.

We looked up recipes for rosemary jelly and came up with one that uses 1.25 c rosemary water, 3 c sugar, and vinegar. (we each memorized one ingredient measurement and cackled our way back to the kitchen. I don't remember the vinegar measurement- Marian?)

The first recipe we made with apple cider vinegar, it was very vinegary and very similar in color to the lemon balm, so we added a couple of drops of food coloring and got a St. Patrick's day green. It's very clear and pretty but we didn't get a good photo. You can see it sitting next to the cans of pears above.

The second batch we used balsamic vinegar. It was still vinegary but it was much more mellow and the vinegar really brought out the flavor of the rosemary. This was a double batch and for half of it we added garlic (Marian saw a recipe...) none of us was sure how it would turn out but it really worked. We goofed though and forgot to double the pectin so this may end up being syrup rather than jelly. So far, Marian says none have set up.



The third batch was identical to the first only we got a slightly lighter color- more of a grass green.



Here are the two side by side.



Although it isn't as pretty, the balsamic vinegar was our favorite. We still want to try rosemary mint, maybe rosemary orange... We will have more pears on Saturday and I might pick up some beans to pickle. There will be more adventures and experiments. We are having way too much fun.

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[hrothgar1.livejournal.com]

The green stuff is no more set up than the brown, so... we shall see!