on the one hand i love that so many people my age are catching canning fever, but on the other, i wonder if i should be hoarding thrift store mason jars in case of a trend explosion.
i remember when i regularly scored luxury yarns for 49 cents at the St. Vincent de Paul shop, but in these days of stitch'n'bitch resurgence the second-hand yarn supply has been filtered down to overpriced acrylics. how long will intact widemouth jars be 25 cents a pop?
there shouldn't be such a thing as early adopter paranoia when dealing with pioneer technologies!
So I hear this bin of pears at Emily's house is pretty big. Is it a bushel? Would it not be fun to start discussing bushels of produce? According to my calculations, we were dealing with half a bushel of cukes at the dill pickle party of early August.
What is the popular will for these pears? What obscene quantities of sugar will be required? Which exotic spices?
I hear straight-up canned pears, I hear butter, I hear chutney. I'd like to add canned pears with ginger, or perhaps this gingery, pear-almond conserve.
For canned pears, the sugar needs are minimal (Bernardin says very light syrup, 1/2C sugar per 5C water).
I'm going to let somebody else determine chutney ingredients. Having tasted the apple-and-onion-based creations of my gramma's friends, I fear suburban chutney recipes, and might save my love until mango-lime chutney comes up.