The Preserver's Year

Chris25

maxtweenie wrote: »

, yet I can buy cheap marmalade from Lidl for 27p and chuck the marmalade away?

:eek: chuck the marmalade away :eek:
you could make this http://recipes.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Orange_Marmalade_Sauce_Recipe

or a sweet sauce to top a steamed pudding

oliveoyl

maxtweenie wrote: »

We're making pear and lemon jam with a hint of ginger later today. I believe the lemon helps the pear jam to set by having loads of pectin?

That sounds nice... have you made it before?

NualaBuala

ceridwen wrote: »

Oooh....I can feel an envy attack coming on.....:D

:rotfl:Well you won't be envious of my waistline when I've made and scoffed all the yummy crumbles, pies etc!

The garden is a complete wilderness and I might need to machete-hack my way through just to pick the fruit but it will be well worth a few scratches!

NualaBuala

thriftlady wrote: »

Yes it could. Some pears stay very hard and are best cooked or pickled. They are called wardens. Elizabeth I was very fond of a warden pie. It is now thought that the warden pear was the black pear of Worcester which appears on the Worcester coat of arms. Article here with ideas for how to cook them.

Thanks Thriftlady - you're a walking (and typing) encyclopaedia!:T

Mine don't look like those, more like conference pears. But since they're hard I think the ideas will will do just as well. I've been saving glass jars "just in case" and it looks like they will come in useful after all. I seem to remember reading on Delia online that there were certain types of pear that were meant to be hard and they stayed nice and firm when cooked so the hardness was actually a good thing.

It's rainy here and set to get a bit chilly I think so crumbles will be nice and comforting. But I'm going to try to be a bit more adventurous and make other stuff too.

Can the pears and crabapples be frozen?

maxtweenie

oliveoyl wrote: »

That sounds nice... have you made it before?

No, it's a recipe other half has found in one of her books, 'The Complete Farmhouse Kitchen Cookbook.' I'm 'working from home' today, so we'll make a start later this afternoon. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Eyeore

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this is a very silly question but I have not made jam or jelly before and would like to make some for Christmas presents. I don't have a preserving pan so can I use something else? I have a Le Cruset casserole - can I use this as it is quite large?

Thank you in advance!

maxtweenie

NualaBuala wrote: »

Thanks Thriftlady - you're a walking (and typing) encyclopaedia!:T

Mine don't look like those, more like conference pears. But since they're hard I think the ideas will will do just as well. I've been saving glass jars "just in case" and it looks like they will come in useful after all. I seem to remember reading on Delia online that there were certain types of pear that were meant to be hard and they stayed nice and firm when cooked so the hardness was actually a good thing.

It's rainy here and set to get a bit chilly I think so crumbles will be nice and comforting. But I'm going to try to be a bit more adventurous and make other stuff too.

Can the pears and crabapples be frozen?

My sister in law cuts the pears in half, then poaches them in red wine and freezes them. She then uses them as desserts.

helyg

Eyeore wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this is a very silly question but I have not made jam or jelly before and would like to make some for Christmas presents. I don't have a preserving pan so can I use something else? I have a Le Cruset casserole - can I use this as it is quite large?

Thank you in advance!

I don't have a preserving pan, I just use a big, heavy based saucepan.

Apple chutney simmering away at the moment, made with some windfalls I was given.

Eyeore

many thanks helyg - shall have a go this weekend, very excited!

oliveoyl

NualaBuala wrote: »

It's my first Autumn here but my neighbours told me that the pears seem to stay hard - could that just be how that variety is supposed to be?

If they are starting to look swollen and ready put one in a paper bag with a banana or banana skin in a cool dark cupboard, check on it every couple of days by pressing the ends.... if it hasn't started to soften within a couple of weeks then I don't think it will (pears ripen quicker in the dark, they ripen from the inside out so may still feel firm at the widest part when they're fully ripe, and bananas give off a gas that can hasten the ripening of other fruits around them).