Pears and Plums, Past Their Prime

When I was at the Hub near closing time on Friday, they had a whole bunch of badly bruised pears. So badly bruised they were dripping. Yuck! Since they wouldn’t make it to Monday, they were going to compost them, but I was sure there was something that could be done with them, so I brought them home with me. I brought home some nectarines, too, in the same condition.

I put the fruit in the fridge overnight while I tried to figure out what to do with it. I thought it was over-ripe, not just bruised, and that’s what I looked for on the internet. What to do with over-ripe pears and plums (because I thought that’s what the nectarines were until I cut into the first one).

There were several articles and posts online about using over-ripe fruit (I’ve included links to some of them below), but the most common use seems to be making jams and jellies, so that’s what I decided to do. Well, butters, actually. Pear butter and plum butter. 

Before straining pears

The pears I cut into fourths and put them, stems, seeds, peel and all, into my 4-quart slow cooker on low. I added about half a cup of water and a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice and left it for several hours, stirring it occasionally. I didn’t add any sugar because I figured that the over-ripe fruit was extra sweet to begin with. After about six hours, I turned it off and put it in the fridge to finish the next day.

The next day I ran the cooked pears through my China hat (known more formally as a chinois), which is an old-fashioned metal, cone-
shaped food mill.  You put something like cooked pears in it and then smush the pears through the tiny holes in the sides with a wooden cone-shaped pestle. It

Chinois or China hat

squeezes the pulp through and keeps the parts you don’t want, like the seeds and peel and stems, inside. The food mills that you can borrow from the Hub Tool Share program do the same thing. I was going to make pear butter, but decided to stop with pear sauce, instead. I added two cinnamon sticks and about a fourth of a teaspoon of almond extract but didn’t add any sugar. It turned out pretty good, considering that I rescued the pears from the compost bin!

After straining pears

There were only a few nectarines, so I cooked them on top of the stove. I did pretty much the same thing – quartered them, then put the whole fruit, including the pits and skin, into a big saucepan. I added a little bit of lemon juice and just a bit of water and cooked it over the lowest heat I could get, stirring it frequently so it wouldn’t burn. When the fruit was really soft, I fished out all of the pits, then put the pulp and skins in the blender. I processed it until it was really smooth, then put it back in the pan and cooked it some more, until it was really thick. It splattered something fierce, so I put a splatter guard over the top. It didn’t catch all of the splatters, but it helped.

Once the pear sauce and nectarine butter were done, I sterilized some jars, filled and sealed them, then processed them for 10 minutes in a water bath canner.

Pear sauce and nectarine butter

So what did I end up with? For the cost of two cinnamon sticks, a bit of almond extract and some lemon juice, I made three half pints of nectarine butter and three pints of pear sauce. The nectarine butter can be used like apple butter, though it's not as sweet. The pear sauce can be used like applesauce to make Pear Sauce Cake or Cookies or to replace some of the fat in baked goods. You can pour it over pancakes. It goes great with pork. You can eat it plain, like applesauce. Or you can make SPARKIN' PIE, so named because a girl once made it to impress her boyfriend, he proposed on the spot, and they lived happily every after.

And to think, all that yummy goodness from food that might otherwise be composted!

-Mary Anne-

Here are some resources for things to do with overripe fruit. My favorite comes from the first article - "Overripe peaches and plums can very quickly be pureed and used as a fruity filling for cakes and muffins.  Simply pour your cake mixture into the case, make a well and add the puree before baking.  The sponge will rise above the puree, encasing it and creating a rich and very fruity addition to your weekly baking repertoire." Or however often you bake at your house. 

What to do with Overripe Fruit - Culinary Arts 360

Top 10 Ways to Use Up Overripe Fruit - the kitchn

10 Things to Do With Overripe Fruit - Savvy Housekeeping

10 Ways to Use Extra or Overripe Fruits and Vegetables - The Purposeful Mom

Uses for Overripe Fruit - thrifty fun

Seven Ways to Enjoy Overripe Fruit - Divine Caroline

Delicious recipes using overripe fruit. A.K.A. kids can't complain about the "mushy part." - Cool Mom Picks

Don't Throw That Away!

“Waste not, want not.” It’s an old fashioned idea, isn’t it? It really doesn’t have a place in today’s throw-away society. Or does it? Mother Hubbard sure thinks it does! Minimizing waste is even part of the Hub’s Vision Statement.

Minimizing waste shows up in practice, too. The Hub composts, and even collects compostables from a couple of local restaurants. They hold classes in composting. (Have you seen Jessica Sobocinski’s post about her experiences with composting? It’s great.) I’ve talked repeatedly about saving bones to make BONE BROTH and saving chicken skin to make CHICKEN CHIPS OR GRIBENES and I’ve given directions for ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS, too. Domestic Diva Barbara has demonstrated making yogurt with slightly old milk and kim-chi with past-their-prime veggies. The Tool Share program lends out driers and canners so you can dry and can extra fruits and veggies and has classes on food preservation. There was even a class last month on wild edibles (a.k.a. weeds).

In the summer, with all the fresh produce that's available, there tends to be even more vegetable waste than the rest of the year. It's a great time for adding to your compost pile. It's also a great time for finding alternative uses for parts of the fruits and vegetables that you usually toss. So, in the spirit of self-sufficiency, economy and sustainability, here are some recipes for using things that might otherwise be tossed out.

Did you know that there’s only about three-quarters of a cup of corn kernels on an ear of corn? The rest is the husk, the silk (not much of that) and, of course, the cob. I don’t have recipes for the husks (though I think they’re used in tamales) or the silk, but I do have a recipe for the cobs. CORN COB JELLY. I’ve never made it myself, but it’s supposed to taste like honey. Wildflower honey, to be exact, according to some.

There’s a lot of waste with a watermelon, too, what with the thick rind and all. The solution? WATERMELON PICKLES. They’re a lot of work, though, if you make it according to the traditional recipe, or at least the recipe I got in the 70s from Toni, an old Iowa farm girl.They're also very sweet - some recipes call them Candied Watermelon Rind.  Or you could make EASY PICKLED WATERMELON RIND, which are lots easier and much less sweet, though they only keep about 10 days in the fridge. And if you’ve got an old-fashioned watermelon with lots of black seeds, you can make ROASTED WATERMELON SEEDS, which are a popular snack in the Middle East. You can do the same thing with seeds from cantaloupe, honeydew and other melons, too. For that matter, you should be able to make pickles from other kinds of melons, too, though most rinds aren’t as thick as watermelon rind.

Somewhat similar to the Watermelon Pickles are RED HOT CUCUMBERS, that Toni, who would be in her 90s today, used to make. They use the huge overgrown cucumbers that get overlooked in the garden and suddenly appear way bigger than you want to use in a salad. They're crunchy and sweet and cinnamony and spicy and pretty. A lot like the spiced apple rings that used to be used as garnish, especially at Christmas. I can't find Toni's recipe, but I know it took several days. The recipe I'm giving here is one I found online and only takes two days. You can use overgrown zucchini instead of the cucumbers if that's what you happen to have. Just be sure, with either the cucumbers or the zucchini, that they'll fit in your canning jar if you want to keep them in rings.

Looking over this, I see an awful lot of sugar added to the throw away items, so, with the exception of the watermelon seeds, they're not exactly cheap. They are cheaper, though, than if you had to go out and buy the cucumbers or apples or whatever to make pickles out of. And they're something different. And they're easy (fiddly, perhaps, but easy) and good. So why not give them a try?

A Rose by Any Other Name...

…still tastes as sweet!

Roses have been used as food and medicine for centuries – like at least back to First Century Greece. Rose petals and rose hips were collected and eaten in Britain during WWII because of the food shortages there. The hips especially are high in several vitamins, especially Vitamin C. But the best thing about them is the taste. Different varieties of roses used to have different scents and thus different flavors, but the modern hybridized roses tend to all smell and taste alike and have much less odor and flavor than the old ones. Another example of progress. Sigh.

Whatever roses you use, be sure that they haven’t been sprayed. Most roses have been well doused with pesticides, which you probably don’t want to eat. Wild roses, too, may have been sprayed with various chemicals and may have absorbed gas fumes if they are near a road or highway.

When my family moved to Idaho, our house had lots of roses out back, and I made rose petal jam and jelly the first summer. We didn’t much like the jam; we found the texture of the rose petals unpleasant. But the WILD ROSE PETAL JELLY was good. The recipe called for wild roses, but we just used the ones in the backyard.

ROSE WATER is used in many Middle Eastern and Indian recipes. You can buy it, but it’s easy to make yourself. Rose Water is an ingredient in the following recipes.

HONEY AND ROSE COOLER is a refreshing and cooling drink, perfect for a hot summer day. For an elegant (and yes, definitely girly!) afternoon snack, serve it with ROSEWATER COOKIES and ROSE PETAL SANDWICHES. Maybe for an engagement party or a shower?

The most unusual recipe I found is for ROSE PETAL PESTO. I don’t have a problem with roses and basil, or even with roses and cheese. But roses and garlic? I’ll leave that one to you. Let me know if you try it and what you think.

Roses can be used in other ways, too. Rose Hip Tea can be made by pouring boiling water over crushed rose hips and letting it steep. A few rose petals can be added to lemonade or to salads. Rose petals can be added to honey or to butter or can be crystalized and used to decorate cakes, cookies, etc. You can find recipes for these and other delicacies online by googling rose recipes.

Don't forget to take time to smell - and taste! - the roses!

Mary Anne

Watermelon Pickles

(an old family recipe)

4 to 5 qts watermelon rind

Boiling water

1 T salt

1 qt cider vinegar

6-1/2 qts sugar (26 cups)

28 whole cloves

14 cinnamon sticks

Choose firm fresh melon with thick white rind. Peel and trim away all but faintest pink. Cut as desired – cubes, hearts, shamrocks, etc. (There are old-fashioned cutters designed for this sort of thing. Cookie cutters won't do because they're not deep enough.) The pieces should be about 1". Cover rind with boiling water; add salt. Bring to boil and cook 10 minutes, or until cubes can be pierced easily with a fork. Drain well. Squeeze out extra liquid. Pack in crock or enameled kettle.

Bring vinegar and 6 cups sugar to a boil; pour over rind. Let stand overnight. Each day, drain off syrup and bring the syrup just to a boil, adding more sugar as follows: first day 4 cups, second through fourth days 2 cups each day and fifth to 14^th day days 1 cup per day. Skim if needed; pour back over pickles. (It won’t hurt if you skip an occasional day.)

On 14^th day, pack the pickles loosely in hot sterilized pint jars. To each jar, add 2 cloves and 1 stick cinnamon. Cover with syrup, leaving 1/2" headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel and put on two piece metal canning lids. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Makes 11 to 14 pints.

A Smaller Version - only about 3 pints

4 to 5 cups watermelon rind

boiling water

3/4 t salt 

1 c cider vinegar

6-1/2 cups sugar

8 whole cloves

4 sticks cinnamon

Choose firm fresh melon with thick white rind. Peel and trim away all but faintest pink. Cut as desired – cubes, hearts, shamrocks, etc. (There are old-fashioned cutters designed for this sort of thing. Cookie cutters won't do because they're not deep enough.) Cover rind with boiling water; add salt. Bring to boil and cook 10 minutes, or until cubes can be pierced easily with a fork. Drain well. Squeeze out extra liquid. Pack in crock or enameled kettle.

Bring vinegar and 1-1/2 cups sugar to a boil; pour over rind. Let stand overnight. Each day, drain off syrup and bring the syrup just to a boil, adding more sugar as follows: first day 1 cup, second through fourth days 1/2 cup each day and fifth to 14^th day days 1/4 cup per day. Skim if needed; pour back over pickles. (It won’t hurt if you skip an occasional day.)

On 14^th day, pack the pickles in hot sterilized pint jars. To each jar, add 2 cloves and 1 stick cinnamon.  Cover with syrup, leaving 1/2" headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel and put on two piece metal canning lids. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Makes 3 to 4 pints.

Easy Pickled Watermelon Rind

(based on a recipe from kitchenriff.com)

1 qt watermelon rind, cut into pieces about 1” square

1 c vinegar (rice wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or plain white vinegar)

1/2 c water

1 c sugar

2-1/2 t table salt

1 star anise

2” piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped (optional) OR 1/2 t powdered cinnamon

Cut or scoop out the flesh from about half of a seedless watermelon. You can leave about 1/2 inch of red flesh on the rind or cut it off closer. Either way works, but be sure to leave at least a little bit of pink for the color. Cut the rind into 1” strips and then peel each strip, using either a potato peeler or a knife. You want to get rid of all the green skin. Cut the peeled strips into 1” pieces and measure. You should have between four and five cups.

Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, star and anise and optional ginger or cinnamon in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Once it boils, add the watermelon rind, return to a boil, and simmer for 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and cool for 1 hour.

Transfer watermelon rind to a 1 quart plastic container or canning jar. Don’t leave it in metal; the acid from the vinegar can ruin the metal and/or react with the vinegar to taste bad. Cover with the syrup. Refrigerate overnight and serve chilled.

These pickles must be refrigerated and won’t last more than a week to ten days in the fridge. Do not keep them longer than this.

Corn Cob Jelly

(from chickensintheroad.com)

12 large ears of corn
2 quarts water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 package powdered pectin
sugar

Cook corn; cut kernels from cobs and store for another use. Measure 2 quarts water into a large pot; add corn cobs.

Bring to a boil; boil hard, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and remove cobs. Strain corn liquid through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer if you want a perfectly clear jelly. Or don’t strain it if you want – or don’t mind having – some bits of corn in it.

Measure remaining corn liquid. You should get about 3-1/2 cups. Return liquid to the large pot. Stir in lemon juice and pectin and a dab of butter to prevent foaming. Bring to a boil. Add sugar cup per cup to match the measure of your corn liquid. Stir to dissolve sugar. Bring pot to a rolling boil. Boil hard one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Ladle hot corn cob jelly into hot jars. Adjust lids and bands. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes about 5 half-pints.

Red Hot Cucumbers

(closely based on http://allrecipes.com/recipe/christmas-red-pickles/)

7 lbs large cucumbers

1 c pickling line (calcium hydroxide) – not pickling salt

2 t red food coloring

1 t powdered alum

1 c distilled white vinegar

7 c white sugar

2 c distilled white vinegar

2 c water

1 c cinnamon red hot candies (cinnamon imperials)

4 cinnamon sticks

Peel cucumbers. Cut in half cross-wise. Using a knife or spoon, scrape out the seeds, then cut into ¼” slices. They should be in rings. Make sure they’ll fit in your canning jars. If they’re too big, you can cut them into half circles, but the full circles look better. Place the cucumbers in a glass or ceramic crock or big bowl. (Don’t use metal because the vinegar will pit it and the reaction with the metal may make the cucumbers bitter.) Dissolve the pickling lime in about a quart of room temperature water and pour it over the cucumbers. Add enough additional water so that the cucumbers are covered by about 1/2”. Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours.

Drain the cucumbers and rinse well with cold water. Place them into a large stockpot (preferably enameled rather than exposed metal) and cover with cold water. Leave them alone for 3 hours then drain and rinse them again.

Return the cucumbers to the pot and add the red food coloring, the alum, 1 cup of vinegar, and enough water to cover by 1/2” inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2 hours. Drain them, and let them cool just a bit before returning them to the original glass or ceramic crock.

Stir together the sugar, 2 cups vinegar, red hot candies, and cinnamon sticks over medium heat until the sugar and the candies dissolve. Pour over the still warm cucumbers, cover, and leave them overnight.

Pack pickles into pint jars, seal, and process in a hot water bath for 15 to 20 minutes. Refrigerate any jars that don’t seal. 

Rose Water

(from theprairiestar.com)

Pick rose petals (from roses that haven’t been sprayed) in the morning when they are freshest and the scent is strongest. Remove the white tip, if any, which may be bitter. Rinse the petals and drain them. Fill a container with petals and pour boiling water over them. Cover with a lid and steep. Strain, then refrigerate for up to several days or freeze. To freeze, pour the rose water into ice cube trays and freeze. Put the frozen ice cubes in a plastic bag and label the bag.

Wild Rose Petal Jelly

(the recipe was copied many years ago from an unknown book)

1 qt (4 cups) rose petals - unsprayed

4 c water

1/2 c strained strawberry juice

3-1/2 lbs sugar (7 and 7/8 c)

1 c liquid pectin

Gather a quart of rose petals. Be sure that they haven’t been sprayed. Wash gently. If there are white tips to the petals, cut them off as they may be bitter. Cover the petals with water, bring to a boil and boil for 15 minutes. Strain through a jelly bag, add strawberry juice, and measure the liquid. Add enough water to make 1 quart. Return liquid to kettle, stir in sugar and bring back to boil. Still stirring, pour in pectin and boil 1 minute. Pour into sterilized jelly glasses and seal.

Note – best with wild rose petals and wild strawberries, but roses and strawberries from your garden will work. Food coloring may be added.