I have lived in San Diego my entire life…..and NEVER gone
apple picking!
You would see things on the internet or in the news and it
always seemed like it was basically one weekend and EVERYONE would infiltrate
Julian, pick the apples and that would be it. Turns out it is actually a
few weeks long AND there are more things available than just apples. So I
picked a day and off we went. We went to a pretty popular farm that used to be
an apple pie farm, the way the price of produce shook out they could not even
pay the labor for what a case of apples was going for. So they sold the
farm. The new owner switched over to organic practices and opened as a u pick.
Don’t get me wrong, the apple picking was fine. We were not
huge fans of the variety of apples available that day but we were able to pick
a bag of empire apples in no time. The farm wasn’t too busy and was set
up like a winery, so it was pretty easy. After the whole drive to get
there we wanted to explore a little more so we were actually going to go to the
winery down the road when we spotted a sign for an organic pear orchard. So we
drove in.
Now this place was DIVINE! There was one other family there
when we arrived, rather than having someone standing there at the gate ready to
take your money for a picking bag…. I had to go down to the other family there
and ask them where they got their picking bag. The answer… just go up to
the house and yell if the dogs don’t tell them you are here. So that is what I
did. This farm used to be a Whole Foods supplier until they tried beating
them up on the price. He hung up on them, opened up his coolers and never
picked another pear. Instead that is when they opened up for u pick. They have
turkeys, chicken, goats, horses and a beautiful orchard. They make goat
cheese and fabulous goat’s milk soap.
With our beautiful pears I made a huge batch of dried pears,
3 full dehydrator batches. Pear Ginger Applesauce (this is a fantastic thing!)
We juiced some with apples and ginger and they were amazing; I made a big
batch of Pear Butter and a lovely Pear Vanilla Jam.
So if you still have time head on up to Julian and be sure
to hit the O’dells Organic Orchard. If you can’t make it now be sure to put it
on the calendar for next year. It is AWESOME!!!!!
 | |
| this was when it was all steamy in the crock pot! |
Pear Butter
8 lbs pears
1c sugar
1c water
3t cinnamon
½ t cloves
1t all spice
Peel, quarter, core pears. Put into a large pot. Add all
spices, sugar and water. Bring this mixture to a boil then let simmer 20-30
minutes. At this point the pears should be a little soft. Transfer the
mixture to a crock pot and put on low for 4 hours. After about an hour or
two grab a potato masher or immersion blender and get them a little smoother.
Then just enjoy the smell, it will become super amazing and if you are not
sure, leave the house for half an hour then come back in to smell
deliciousness!
As you approach the 4 hour mark get your canning
supplies ready and be sure to follow safe canning practices. This recipe will
make just over 4 pints. I canned mine in 8 half pint jars and probably could
have stretched it into 9, but instead I just put the extra in a bowl and we ate
it!
Enjoy…once you taste it you will realize you are a genius (
I did the same thing) ;-)
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