every little thing: Is it butter yet?

September 20, 2007

Is it butter yet?

I wish that I had some swoony, artistic pictures to share from my canning adventure this week. (Remember the basket of pears?) Unfortunately, preserving usually ends up being a late-night project for me, so this creepy, flashed out pic is all I got. For me preserving is such a fast paced process, that there is little time for picture taking anyway. You have to keep stirring and stirring, or the pear butter will splatter all over, or burn to the bottom of the pan. You have to ladle and seal quickly, while everything is piping hot. And, if you are me, you have to scald your fingers every five minutes and swear like a sailor. (Luckily, yesterday was national Pirate-Talk day, so I had an excuse!) My sister kept peeking in the kitchen, tentatively and asking, "Um, are you ok? But it's all over now, and so worth it. I had never made pear butter before, and it is so delicious. Very different from apple butter. Much more orange-nutmeg flavor, it is very reminiscent of marmalade. Unfortunately, it's not the prettiest of colors. Sort of gruel-looking. Makes me think about all of the things we eat that are amped with color and dye and preservatives just to make them look more appealing. I should take better pictures of the jars, like these I took of the damson jam last year:

Ah, that's better. I'm quite sad looking at this photo, because the tree at my grandparent's died last year, so there are no damsons to be had now. They are my favorite, and I have no idea where else I could find them, they're kind of an old-world fruit. Like a small, tart plum....sort of. It makes the most heavenly jam, and I have one jar left from last year squirlled away, like an apple of gold. How I treasure it. Sigh.

10:57 AM in Crafty | Permalink