Ginger pears (vegan)

For this I used mostly d'anjou and some red scarlet pears.

 As promised I am going to let you know what I choose to put up and when so you can see what goes into my pantry/larder.

I think that ginger is one of those things that rings freshness through the nose.  You FEEL it's flavor.  Like hot peppers, it is a bit of a physically undeniable experience that extends the tasting to a perfume.
I feel Ginger harkens excitement, awakening and makes things happier.  I once hated it and now am confused at how I could have possibly.

I am a big pear fan.  I feel like if I had a friend I'd want them to be an apple - a little more durable and robust, but a pear is a lover.  It takes a little more finesse and you must treat them nicer.  So isn't it lovely that pears have a very long season (variety to variety).  This means that they can get nabbed locally (for me) for a lot of months.  This makes me feel contented until their prices go up... then less so.  So preserving them is a good thing while they are cheap.  Cheap, FRESH, seasonal and local.

I looked through the giant catalog styled books of canning and found not a jot interesting enough to try out on the pears (other than pear butters, which require a lot more pears than I was willing to sacrifice).  So feeling a bit like Imelda Marcos needing a pair of sturdy hiking boots I went all internet on it and still came up short.  In which case the result is *&@% it, add cardamom and ginger - bang. Done.

I use Jelly jars for this recipe because it is potent and I can't imagine eating a lot in one sitting.  If you have a big family then Quarts may be the way to go.

You will need approximately 1 pear for every half pint (the little jelly jars) you use.  The yield depends on how packed you can get the jars with pear pieces.  It averages 10 half pints per this recipe of liquid it you jam them babies up well (making sure to leave just enough room to have the lids seat properly).  I got 20 jars from 18 pears and did the recipe below twice for that same amount.

5 - 6 Cups water
2 1/2 Cups vegan sugar - this is considered a "light syrup" I feel "light" is by old standards and seems really sweet to me.
8-10 cardamom pods
2 -3 twigs of cinnamon (I used real cinnamon not cassia bark... Ceylon/real cinnamon is lovely, delicate and smooth,  cassia is potent so you can use a lot less of it for this.  1 twig or 1 heaping tsp of cassia cinnamon.  If you don't know if your powder is cassia and you are in the US, chances are it is, if it says Ceylon then you know it isn't.  If it doesn't state this implicitly then it is cassia.)
3/4 inch knuckle of ginger root grated (This is plenty to bring the feeling and taste of ginger without a lot of nose heat, if you'd like more do it up.)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 lemon's zest

Bring water to a simmer - light boil, add sugar and whisk gently to blend into dissolving. Once dissolved add spices, zest and ginger. While liquid simmers and steeps peel and core fruit and slice into chunks and coat with a touch of lemon juice to keep them from browning.
In your clean jars add a 1 tsp lemon juice this will insure your fruit has enough acidity to preserve.
pack well with pear pieces.
Strain your very hot liquid through a sieve and fill jars with syrup leaving 1/4-1/2 inch room.
Lid and finger tighten then place into water bath's boil water.

I pre-warm my oven to 150-200
I have the jars rumble boil in the bath for at least 12 minutes then move the hot jars to a lightly warm oven 150-200 for 5 minutes... then move the jars to room temp until they cool.  This will help them cool down SLOWLY.  You'll hear the jars doing "things" and making sounds for the next hour and that is the jars sealing themselves into that vacuum to keep things tasty and pure for you.

Process your water bath as you normally do.  If you don't normally do this then I recommend you grab a book on the subject to fully understand it as food preservation is pretty crucial to get correct.  The rule is that you hear a "voop" sound when you open the jar to eat.  It not... that jar of stuff can make you dead sick, or just dead.

Pack your jars well so when the jar is sealed and the fruit floats there isn't a lot of room that is just syrup.

Serve these as a dessert alone or over ice cream, whipped cream, vanilla breads of a variety of sorts or a rich deep almost bitter chocolate thing.

I'm blowing your mind, I know.
...crickets...

Lemons and Limes for keeps

I've salted and sugared some limes and tossed them into a jar along with the juice of 4 other limes.  I have also salted some lemons and put those into a jar along with the juice of 3 other lemons. 

The salt will draw out the juice and create a citrus brine for preserving the fruits in.  The only maintenance it needs is to shake the brine a little to coat the lemons and limes respectively every other day (most important during its initial curing of 3 weeks) while visiting your fridge.  Once the brine covers the majority of the citrus, it will keep refrigerated for a year.  This leaves plenty of time to do it all over again the next year.  After about 3 weeks the citrus will be soft and supple and at that point, the rind is soft and edible too.  These are excellent for salads and other Summer refreshment.  When the lemons and limes are this way they qualify as a full-fledged  condiment and can be used just as you would any other.  And, best of all, a little goes a long way and is always an impressive addition.

Instructions on cutting, salting, canning these citrus:

- Meyer are the preferred choice, but really any will do.

- The amount of salt and additional juice depends on the jar size. 1 quart Mason or Kerr jar needs 2 TBSP salt (then add the juice as mentioned below)

- The double quart size needs 4 TBSP of salt

- For the additional juice, you want enough to help give the citrus a boost.  This again depends on the size of jar and how many fruit you choose to do.  1/3 or better of juice/brine is best to start off.   It will continue to make its own brine as the salt does its magic.

- With the limes, I chose a smaller jar as the slices of limes are so much smaller than the lemons that the same amount of wedges fill a much smaller jar.  For limes I also add 2 TBSP vegan sugar along with 2 TBSP sea salt.

• Cut one end off -- enough to reveal some fruit and not just the pith, cut the other end just enough to stand your fruit upright
• Cut downwards from the most cut end toward the stand end along the wedges direction but not severing the citrus entirely through. Repeat in as many wedges as you'd like - I do 6 for each.
• Pour salt into each wedge cut making certain each side of each wedge is well salted.
• Cut and juice the amount of citrus you'd like for the jar you've selected
• Pour 2-4 TBSP salt into the jar (2 for 1 pint-1 quart 4 for a double quart).
• Pour a lesser amount of sugar into the jar if you'd like it to be a touch less tangy in the end (it's rather minimal and I do it for limes
• You can add spices like cloves, cinnamon sticks and allspice to lemons if they are too edgy.  I like it without because they have more uses without the spices added.  Maybe try two little batches?

Now this is really a very general recipe and hasn't many rules.  The basic rules are:

• You want enough salt to keep the citrus and enough to make brine
• You want enough starter brine so the citrus is eventually covered
• You want it to taste like a million dollars and for people to think you're incredible.

You can leave the citrus out overnight to let it stand at room temperature and after that move it to the refrigerator with a shake to coat and tend to it as you think of it.  A good shake should move the salt from the base of the jar and redistribute it.