I love to can jams and jellies. It’s one of the easiest things for me to do, and one of the things that we seem to eat the most. I also use my jams as hostess gifts when we go visiting, and often include them in a gift bag for the holidays. In any given year, I routinely make Plum Jam and Jelly from our own plums. I make Plum “Jemmy”, which is my name for a semi-chunky jelly, but not thick enough to be a jam. We live in SC peach country, so we always get lots of freestone peaches from the local peach plant. Each year I make Peach Jam, Peach Peel and Pit Jelly, and have even tried a Pectin Free Peach Jam. The huge fig tree we have at One Ash has given us as much as 150 lbs. of figs in one year- so you know I have made fig jam! I’ve also made a lot of fig jam variations- fig-cinnamon, fig-ginger, fig-wine-and rosemary. This year I got really creative with a combination Peach Fig Jam- oh, my! It is really delicious, if I do say so myself! (I don’t even like figs, so getting creative with jams is the only way we can get them eaten up!). In past years we have had the opportunity to pick pears from a friends trees, and I have made Pear Jam and my MiMi’s own Red Hot Pear Jam. So you might say, I am a jam canning crazy woman in the summertime!
Well, a few years ago, we decided we needed some pear trees of our own. To the nursery we went, we picked out the best self-pollinating pear trees we could find, and in the ground they went. And then came the babysitting. As with most fruit trees, these pear trees needed a lot of water that first year. We planted them in March, so the weather wasn’t too hot at first. But boy, when summer hit, we were having to really soak them almost every day to keep them from wilting. And so this went on with no pear production for the first 2 years. Then we got to this spring. The trees are growing well, they are probably about 10 ft. tall, and they are healthy. And when the weather warmed up, they were filled with the most beautiful white blossoms! Pears! We were going to have pears of our own this year! We couldn’t wait.
For the next months we checked those trees every day. Sadly, we had a late freeze and one of the trees lost all it’s fruit. But the other one managed to provide us with a little over 2 bushels of pears! We thought this was great for our first year of production.
Then came the question- what to do with all of these crisp, perfectly ripened pears? Well, of course the pear jam came, some pear goodie desserts, a pear cake or two. Canned pear slices filled the pantry. But we still had pears. It was time to get creative!
Because I make so many jams and jellies, I am always looking for a new recipe. I searched the web and pondered over my favorite recipe books (check out THIS Jam and Jelly cookbook). I found some ideas I liked around the idea of marmalades. This was something I had never tried, so of course I became curious and ready to try this new idea! I looked through lots of recipes, and finally came up with something to do with the rest of the pears.
Here is my recipe for this different, a little bit “exotic” and definitely unique, but wonderfully sweet and tart, pectin-free Pear Lemon Marmalade. I think it’s great to start with the basic recipe, but I know some of you will have ideas of things we can add to make this even more special. Think about holiday gift ideas!!! I hope you enjoy the recipe- and comment below with your thoughts!
Pear Lemon Marmalade from One Ash Homestead
4 firm, large pears
1 large lemon
4 cups granulated sugar
-Peel, half, and core the pears. Slice the cored halves in long slices, about 1/8″ thick
-Wash the lemon well, cut off the ends. Slice the lemon as thin as possible, removing all seeds. Then slice the slices in 1/2 (this doesn’t need to be perfect, or even look good- they will cook down)
-Add the pears and lemon slices, along with the sugar into a heavy sauce pan
-Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to boil. Stir this occasionally.
-Lower the heat to keep a steady simmer, and cook until the mixture reaches 225 degrees, stirring occasionally- stirring more when it gets close to the temperature to prevent sticking. (I use a digital thermometer like the one HERE)
-Transfer the hot marmalade to hot, sterilized jars and seal with canning lids and rims.
This recipe made about 4 half pint jars and will keep in the fridge for about a year.
Enjoy on your favorite homemade toast or biscuits!
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