lest you think i am an overachiever, let me start by saying this venture was slightly accidental. not accidental as in i accidentally bought 10 quarts of pears, but accidental in the fact that i had not planned to set out on this venture alone.
you see, i have this goal...to become involved in my ward. so seeing an opportunity, i signed up for 'canning groups'. 'great', i thought, 'this is a great way to be doing something and meet people'. little did i know that the term 'group' was being used very loosely.
a week or so after signing up i got a call from a friend in the ward. she found a great deal on pears and wondered if she could pick some up for me. i thought that sounded like a great idea...that is until she said they weren't really going to be able to do the groups...since it was the weekend before school started. but by then...it was too late. i was stuck...with 10 quarts of pears.
so i peeled. and i peeled. and i peeled. then i got excited and started filling jars...but i only filled 3 1/2 jars...so i peeled some more. and i peeled. well, you get the idea, there was a lot of peeling involved.
it really wasn't as technical a process as i had imagined it would be. hot water. sugar. lids. steam canner. and lots and lots of time. and peeling...don't forget the peeling.
luckily for me, all of my jars sealed and i can call this venture a success. but i must give credit where credit is due. first to my mother-in-law who gave me the steam canner a few Christmases ago...thank you, thank you, thank you! and to my own mother...who answered several distressed questions and gave great over-the-phone instructions. thank you, thank you, thank you!
my jars are currently sitting on a shelf in my cold storage room...much too pretty to be eaten.
