Fruit

How to preserve fresh pears

Food

One of the things I’m loving the most about our new house is the flourishing pear tree in our back yard. This is (apparently) a great year for pears, and Andy and I are currently overrun with them.

As much as we love having natural, fresh fruit at our disposal, there is absolutely no way we are capable of eating all of these pears before they go bad.

Accepting this reality led us to look into different methods of preserving our bounty.

Pearpicking

After doing some Google research I quickly learned that there are dozens of ways to preserve this fruit, some easier than others.

Naturally, I gravitated towards the easiest solution!

Here is perhaps one of the easiest ways to preserve fresh pears:

  1. Wash and peel your pears
  2. Core and slice (be really careful – peeled pears are very juicy and as a result, difficult to hold on to while slicing!)
  3. Bring two cups of water and one cup of sugar to a boil
  4. Boil the pears for 2-3 mins
  5. Drain
  6. Let them cool
  7. Throw them in a freezer bag and stick them in the freezer
  8. Done!

Use this method to keep your pears fresh for up to six months!

pears1

Fruit Kabobs!

Food

It’s that time of year again: barbecue season! And while we all love a good burger, bratwurst, and heaping serving of potato & macaroni salad, sometimes we find ourselves in the mood for something a wee bit healthier.

Fruit kabobs are a simple way to fill that health-craving void. All you need for these simple kabobs are wooden skewers, strawberries and a fresh pineapple (or canned pineapple chunks if you’re in a rush).

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Wash strawberries and cut them in half.
  2. Cut your pineapple by first cutting off the outside skin. Proceed to cut the meat of the pineapple into chunks.
  3. Spear your kabobs, rotating between pineapple and strawberry.
  4. Enjoy!