Over the Labor Day holiday I took a roadtrip with my mom, this also happens to be the same trip where I acquired Harvest. While out and about we stopped at several local orchards to pick up an assortment of apples, pears, and peaches. My original plan was to make an apple-pear sauce, then I found the following recipe by Marisa, from Food in Jars!
Vanilla Pear Jam – yields seven half-pints
8 cups chopped pears, I used red bartlett (there is no need to peel thin-skinned pears)
2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
4 cups sugar
1 packet liquid pectin
In a large pot, combine pears, sugar, vanilla seeds, and beans; cook over medium heat until the pears are soft enough to be mashed with the backside of a wooden spoon. Remove the vanilla beans and mash with a potato masher. You can also use an immersion blender, just be careful to not purée the jam, unless that is the desired consistency you want to achieve. I like my jam to have pieces of fruit in it!
Add the liquid pectin and bring to a boil, cook for 5 minutes to activate the pectin.
Ladle hot jam into hot, sterilized, half-pint jars; wipe rims and adjust two-piece lids to fingertip-tight. Process in a boiling-water canner for 10 minutes. Remove jars from canner and allow to cool, undisturbed, on a wire rack for 12-24 hours. Check seals (refrigerate any that did not set) and store in a cool, dry, dark place, for up to a year.
Images and content copyright © 2009-2011 Danielle R Limoge.
