By The tomatoes are done. I pulled the last plants this week, composted the vines, turned the bed. There's a particular satisfaction in clearing a garden bed at the end of the season — putting it to rest with the knowledge that it will come back. The raised beds are mulched with straw now, waiting for April. The freezer has twelve quarts of sauce, six of roasted tomatoes, and a container of those dehydrated cherries that I've been adding to everything. It was a good season.
Fall crops are in — the same kale and chard I planted in spring, a late succession. Kale sweetens with cold, everyone says so, and they're right. By October those leaves will be extraordinary. I've been making kale salads, kale soup, kale with everything. There's a period in September when the kale is coming in and the tomatoes are done and the apples are peaking and everything feels exactly calibrated to what you need.
I've been preserving in earnest. Apple butter this week, which requires patience — four pounds of apples cook down for hours until the whole thing is dark and concentrated and spiced with cinnamon and clove. I put it up in eight jars, the same hex-lid jars that Helen used for everything. The root cellar is getting full of labeled jars, which pleases me more than I can easily explain. It's a very old satisfaction, I think. The feeling of enough.
Called Ted Marchand to see if he wanted some apple butter. He said yes, and then we talked for an hour about fall, about what he was planting for next year, about his daughter in Portland who hasn't been able to visit. We're both old men alone on properties and we've both found our way. But the visits over the fence, short as they are, have become something I count on.
The apple butter came out well this year — eight jars, dark and spiced, lined up next to Helen’s old hex-lid collection — but I’ve been making a batch of pear butter alongside it for the past few seasons, and it’s become just as essential to me. The method is nearly the same: patience, low heat, time. If you’ve got a good pear haul or found some at the farmers market before the season closes, this is exactly the right thing to do with them. It fills the kitchen the same way apple butter does, and it goes into the same jars, and it gives you the same feeling when you set the last one on the shelf.
Easy Pear Butter
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 3 hours | Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes | Servings: 48 (makes about 3 half-pint jars)
Ingredients
- 4 pounds ripe pears, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup apple cider or water
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (adjust to taste)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Cook the pears. Combine chopped pears and apple cider in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20–25 minutes until pears are completely soft and beginning to fall apart.
- Puree. Use an immersion blender (or transfer in batches to a blender) to puree the pears until completely smooth.
- Add sweetener and spices. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and lemon juice. Return pot to medium-low heat, uncovered.
- Slow-cook and reduce. Cook uncovered over low heat, stirring frequently to prevent scorching, for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until the mixture is very thick, dark, and holds its shape on a spoon. It should mound slightly rather than spread.
- Finish. Stir in vanilla extract and taste, adjusting sugar or spices as needed.
- Jar and store. Ladle into clean half-pint jars. For refrigerator storage, cool completely and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks. For shelf-stable preserving, process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes, then allow to cool undisturbed for 12–24 hours before storing in a cool, dark place.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 35 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 9g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 0mg