The Perfect Pear

On a lighter note and in contrast to the last couple posts Instant Gratification and Important Things in Life today I’m going to share with you the latest adventure and the value of pears.

Let me explain. On Saturday, I went volunteer pear picking with Not Far From The Tree an enjoyable and fruitful (sorry) couple hours. We picked a lot of pears and I came home with a nice portion to make a variety of simple recipes, which I will share with you next week along with some pictures.

In fact the picking involved a couple hours of travel (After we picked I drove the organizer to drop of the food for donation to the soup kitchen). On the way home, I dropped by some friends that I don’t see that often and was able to share some pears with them and family members that were visiting.

Then on Tuesday evening: the sorting, cleaning, peeling, cutting, cooking, canning, baking and clean up – the toll, 7 hours until 2:30am. Even though my hands were sore, I loved every minute of it. Oh, and I didn’t waste anything (except the energy to cook the pears). Even the remaining stems, cores and skins were used for my juice. Then I put them in the compost pile. They will continue to reap benefits next year as food for my vegetable garden. Pears, the gift that just keeps giving.

Here’s what I made – Pear Sauce, Pear Crisp, Pear Juice & “tea”, not to mention lots of fresh pears. I managed to share a few jars and some pears with various people. That alone made it worth my time. That was my instant gratification and it involved 12 hours of my time. The pears are fresh, the cooking is natural with no additions. The taste is sweet and that is the value of doing things the simple way. The pleasure of the process is often forgotten.

Was it worth it? Absolutely. Would I do it again? For sure, I’m looking forward to going out for at least one and hopefully two apple picks with the group this season. The power of the pear was quite simply an experience in community and simplicity that amplifies my appetite for more. It wasn’t work. It wasn’t instant. It was fun and fulfilling.

Stay tuned for some great recipes in the coming weeks. With the summer & fall harvest I’ve also made Tasty Tomato Sauce, Chunky Chili, Cool Cucumber Soup,  Cheesy Zucchini Bread, Borscht (Beet Soup) and will be making a few things with fennel and apples. Since I cook from scratch and often in batches on a weekly basis, if you like the recipes and ask me for more I would love to add Simply Savory as an extra weekly posting.

if you liked this post, take a gander at these ones!

• Simple Pear Sauce Recipe
• Simple Pear Crisp Recipe (and pear juice)
• Vegetable Garden Harvest Update
• Cold Cucumber Soup
• simple coffee liqueur recipe