Sweetness ~ Past, Present and . . . . .

Somewhere near the end of Summer last year, in the sweltering heat we were given the gift to pick pears from our Farmer neighbor's tree up the street. I had been wishing for some to make preserves out of and to eat fresh. The two old pear trees we found on our property were not in good shape when we bought the place. Only blooming once in the nearly 3 years we've lived here. Which was in a dry year leading to hard dry pears. I dream on with regards to having a fruitful tree of our own to gather from. Maybe this will be the year to plant one or two to satisfy the childhood rememberances I have.

I remember my Granny making pear preserves each year among several other jellys, jams and such. Our taste buds would go dancing in anticipation of the homemade treat each time she put a jar on the table next to her "bread bowl" buttered biscuits. I don't know where she got her pears from, how she cooked them up to perfection or any details about them save one. Tucked away in each jar of preserves was a thin slice of candied lemon. Back then I didn't understand the reasoning behind placing a slice of lemon in each jar. Now I understand it probably was a way of keeping the thickened syrup surrounding the thinly slice pears from turning into a sugary lump. Her jars held the golden disc towards their bottoms mostly. Occasionally one would slip up the side of the jar and give a pretty glow to the goodness resting inside. Granny shared freely the things she labored from out of her garden at each meal she prepared. But she did have one rule when it came to eating those coveted preserves. You couldn't touch the lemon slice till all the preserves were eaten. Boy did that start up a challenge between all the cousins who loved to eat it, self included. I remember we would sit at the table watching the jar being pasted around. Hoping that the last person to put in a spoon would leave the yellow disc behind. Better yet that there would only be enough left in the jar for one more buttered biscuit ~ ours. Giving us full right to the lemon slice candy. My, my, my it was good!

So when I started my first batch of pear preserves this past year. I didn't have a recipe to follow other than the brief verbal directions from our pear benefactor Mr. Rigley. You will never know if you can do something if you never give it a try. The one thing I did know was that even if my jars did not turn out as good as Grannys. They sure could look like hers, so I rambled through the fruit drawer for a lemon. Slicing it thinly to add to the the pears simmering on the stove. I made sure each jar received one slice in it. But instead of placing it near the bottom, I slid them down the sides to show forth like little yellow sunflowers.

See the sunflower sticking up out of my opened jar?

We opened up another jar to eat at breakfast and even though they didn't thicken up like hers. Their taste is wonderful on anything buttered none the less. I still smile each time I see my "little sunflowers." In keeping with tradition I too have imposed the wait till the jar is empty rule for snitching the candied slice. I am sure given the chance at having more pears this coming year I will try again. Practice makes perfect as the saying goes. Until then we are enjoying my trial and error preserves. My eyes never leaving the emptying jar like I did as a child. Though I don't have to watch the jars near as closely, as Lon doesn't care for lemon anything. It doesn't matter ~ the rule still stands, the anticipation remains and the goodness is savored each time I pull a "sunflower" out of the jar and pop it in my mouth. Yummm.

Savoring Autumn's sweetness,

Deborah