I Made Pear Jam... With My Mom!!

Mom and I used to make jam every year.  Well, we bottled lots of stuff, actually.  Strawberry, raspberry, and pear jam, along with peaches, pears, tomatoes, salsa, and marinara.  Now that I live like 2500 miles away, that has become a thing of the past, and boy have I missed it.  So when she called and basically said, “Can I come visit you next week?”, one of the first things I did was run out and buy some pears so they would have time to ripen.  I might have even bought them before we had a bed for her to sleep in.  You know, we all have different priorities.  No way was I going to miss an opportunity to make jam with my mom.  Even if you don’t have a jam making partner, don’t be scared off.  It’s easy enough to make alone, and way better than anything you can buy in the store.  

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 5 cups mashed pears (about 8 or 9 pears)
• 5 cups sugar
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 package of pectin

The first thing you want to do is measure your sugar and set it aside so that it’s easily accessible when you need it. 

Next, squeeze 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice into a large measuring cup. I like using a measuring cup because then you can measure as you go. 

Just a couple notes about Bartlett pears, which is what I use and recommend.  They are always picked green.  They don’t really ripen on the tree, they rot.  So when you buy them, just try to get a group that are roughly the same stage of ripeness and similar in size.  When the pears are ripe, they’ll be a nice yellow color and quite soft, and they’ll smell amazing.  Now for prepping them.  Pull out the stem and cut the pear in half.  Run a small knife from top to bottom angling under the core area. 

Then just pop the piece out. 

Because pears are soft, a knife is your best implement for peeling. 

Cut the halves into large chunks and drop them in with the lemon juice. 

Using a potato masher, mash the pears and mix them with the lemon juice as you go. 

There’s 4 cups. 

Pour that into a large pan, then measure one more cup.  When it’s all in, mash until you have only small chunks remaining. 

Sprinkle on your pectin and stir it in, then turn the heat to medium. 

At this point, I obviously got distracted with gabbing, because I totally spaced taking more pictures until it was all finished.  It was the day after my mom had gotten into town, what would you expect?  Although, there’s not much left to do.  Stirring constantly, bring the pears to a full boil.  Once you’re there, pour in the sugar, and continue stirring.  Bring the mixture back to a boil and boil for 1 minute.  Turn off the heat and pour the jam into bottles.  It’s important that your bottles have been sterilized, as well as the lids.  After boiling the bottles, I like to put them through a dry cycle in the dishwasher so that they’re hot when I fill them.  Fill them to about ½ inch from the top.  Leave the lids in simmering water, then just pull them out and put them onto the bottles as you go.  Technically, at this point, you should process the bottles.  I don’t do that with jam, but of course it’s safer if you do.  Either way, you’ll end up with amazing jam.  This recipe gave me 7 ½ cups of finished jam. 

If you look at the instructions in your pectin box, you’ll see that the only thing I’ve changed in the recipe is the amount of pears.  I’ve found through trial and error that this ratio gives the perfect jam consistency.  Not too thick, not too thin. 

My favorite thing to use pear jam for is pancakes.  I’m pretty sure they’re soul mates.  I'm sure you could use it for countless other things, though.  French toast, on top of ice cream, in oatmeal, or even just a pb&j.   

Who is your kitchen partner and what thing would you miss most if you could no longer make it with them?

Caprese on a Stick

Admit it.  Most of you read the title and the voice in your head instantly switched to Jose Jalapeño.  As it happens, there are no jalapeños in this recipe.  It’s really just a traditional caprese salad turned into a delicious, cute, and easy to make, hors d'oeuvre. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Cherry tomatoes
• Mozzarella cheese
• Fresh basil leaves
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• pinch of garlic powder
• pinch of onion powder
• 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Toothpicks

These cute little balls of fresh mozzarella are the perfect size for putting on a toothpick.  If you can’t find them, though, you can just cut any mozzarella into small cubes. 

Now, the idea for this recipe came to me from my mom, but I’m pretty sure she got it from a member of her bridge club.  (Yes, I know it's a bit of a cliché, but my mom really is in a bridge club.)  That being said, I’ve never actually seen the original version, but thank you to whichever bridge lady it was who unknowingly inspired this recipe and blog post.  Here’s my take on what sounded like a fabulous idea. 

Slice your cherry tomatoes in half.  I had to get mine from the grocery store, so I bought 2 different colors.  If you can get some from your garden or local farmer’s market, it will be even better, no matter what color they are.

Slide one half of a tomato onto a toothpick.

Next, put the toothpick through a basil leaf, at one end or the other. 

On goes a piece of cheese.

Then slide on the other end of the basil so the leaf is wrapped around the cheese, and follow it with the other half of the tomato. 

Repeat.  As you’ll see, the yellow tomatoes were a little bigger, so for those, I used some mozzarella cheese that I cut into small cubes.  Aren’t they cute? 

That would be fabulous just as it is, but I thought they’d be even better dipped in a lovely balsamic vinaigrette.  Sure, you can get one in a bottle, but it’s so simple to make, I don’t know why you would.  Everything is better homemade.  Into a small bowl put your honey, mustard, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and balsamic vinegar.  I only had regular yellow mustard on hand, but if you have Dijon or whole grain mustard, it would probably be even better.

Whisk all that together. 

Continue whisking as you slowly drizzle in the olive oil. 

As you whisk the mixture will thicken slightly, and you’ll know it’s ready.  See, I told you it was simple.  Now just pour it into a little bowl. 

And dip away! 

I guarantee you’ll close your eyes and let out a long ‘Mmmmm” as your taste buds take in the smooth tang of the balsamic, the creamy saltiness of the cheese, the juicy sweetness of the tomatoes, and the bittersweet anise flavor of the basil.  I don’t know how something so simple can possibly be so amazingly alluring to the senses, but it is. 

What’s your favorite thing to do with tomatoes?