Pear Sauce

Well, I don't even know what to say for myself.  I didn't realize it had been so long since I had posted last.  Since my last post Shawn has been gone quite a bit for some work trips.  Several of us have been sick--even me!  And I'm sure you all know how well a household functions when mom is sick.  :)  Plus just the general busy-ness of our lives have all been factors in my delay.  Today and yesterday I was really feeling the pull of "the blog" and I knew I had to post to feel "caught up" in life--at least for today. :)

Even though December is here, and for us in SE Alaska, winter and the snow is definitely here too, and you're probably thinking about holiday baking, I have a recipe for you that's a little more fall worthy.  Nonetheless, this is still delicious and pretty simple too.  And since fresh pears are still available at reasonable prices, I wanted to share a new recipe we discovered this fall.

It all started when we brought back a box of apples and pears from Hood River after traveling for my grandma's funeral.  I had grand dreams of canning the glorious bartlett pears in juice and marveling at a shelf full of canned mason jars.  However, Alaska Airlines apparently didn't read their fragile stickers all over our box because my pears were no where near glorious any longer.  They weren't a total waste, but I had to shift gears and think of new ways to use them.  I ended up making a really delicious pear jam with cranberries and cinnamon.  And I also had several left over and decided to make pear sauce.  I knew the kids would like it but I was surprised by how much Shawn and I liked it too.  In fact, it was so good I bought more pears a few weeks later when they were on sale and made this again.

I got the inspiration for the recipe here.  But I made a few tweaks increased the proportions and cooked it in the crock pot.  So here's what I came up with.

Pear Sauce

3 lbs of pears (any variety)
1 vanilla bean
1 Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
3/4 -1 cup of water

Peel, core and chop pears into chunks.  Place in crock pot.
Split open vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds.  Add seeds and pod to the crock pot.
Add balsamic vinegar and water.  Start with the smaller amount of water and add more as desired.
Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.

Once the pears are soft enough to mash/blend, remove the vanilla bean pod.  Use an immersion blender to blend the pears to your desired consistency.  We kept ours pretty chunky, but you could pretty well puree this if you were making baby food too.  And the vanilla bean pod back to the pot and continue cooking on low with the lid vented open slightly if your sauce is too watery.  Continue cooking till the sauce reaches your desired consistency.  Store in the refrigerator for a week (or more if you like to live dangerously like me).

I hope you're able to enjoy this pear sauce sometime soon.  Our family sure did.