A Doozy of a Day

My parents have a pear tree in their backyard that produces tons of pears every year. Despite the lack of rain and the fact that there is virtually no trunk left on this antique tree, it still goes nuts. They let us know yesterday that today was the day that they were going to pick all the pears off the tree-before the wasps come in this year. And did we want any? Did we want to can some pears? This got me thinking, and a short while later I learned that I could can pears in my boiling water canner with the aid of some simple syrup. You bet! Free pears to put up- I was in.

So we went over this morning to share the duties of picking the pears, and with all of us working, it went very quickly. Not knowing how many pears it was going to take to do a few batches, we brought home quite a few pears...
Andy promised to help peel and cut the pears today, so we both let the kids loose doing whatever they wanted and settled in for an afternoon of canning. A short handful of pears in, we were both looking at the mountains of pears we'd brought home- now realizing how much work it was going to be to peel and core and cut every single one. Oy! But we forged ahead. We had the pears, we had the jars and the simple syrup. And in the end, we ended up with 34 quarts of canned pears.We actually ran out of jars, or we probably could have gotten another 7 or 8 quarts made. As it is, the remaining pears will be delicious eating out of hand and will make their way into a few crisps, pies, or salads. Overall, a very productive day for us. Tomorrow we begin birthday week! Abigail's birthday is on Monday, but we'll be celebrating both tomorrow and Monday, since Monday means work for Andy. Then Tuesday is my birthday, and I can't wait to show off my birthday present. I'm going to be turning the big 3-0, and since I've heard the thirties are better than the twenties, I'm looking forward to it.

BTW- another milestone! This is my 700th post!!!