the great pear experiment

I knew almost nothing about pears until about a month ago, when I picked a bagful of hard little pears from a tree in my parents' yard in South Carolina. They didn't even feel ripe, so I googled about what to do with them on the ride home.

Did you know you are supposed to pick pears when they don't feel ripe yet? I didn't. After you pick them, you store them in the refrigerator for 1-4 months (!) and then let them ripen on the counter.

I've had these pears taking up an entire drawer in my fridge since July 4, so I was really excited to try making pear butter. I did it yesterday in the crockpot and I think it went pretty well! I don't have a food mill so I had to peel about 25 of those little suckers, but that was the hardest part. It sat in the crockpot all day and then I just blended it up and then boiled it down until it was thick. Pretty easy and I'm excited to try this again next year.