Old-Fashioned Pear Honey

Pears are a delightful, but sometimes overlooked, Fall fruit. I recently came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Pear Honey and decided to give it a try. Pear Honey does not actually contain any honey; rather it is a delightful spread that is lovely on bread, toast, pancakes, and other foods. The Pear Honey was sweet with a nuanced tanginess and notes of citrus.

Here is the original recipe:

A hundred years ago many children attended small (often one-room) schools. The original recipe suggests using Pear Honey when making school lunches. Peanut Butter and Pear Honey sandwiches would be a nice change of pace from the usual Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Pear Honey

Servings: 7 - 8 half-pint jars
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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12 Bartlett pears

4 cups water

4 cups sugar

juice from 2 lemons

Peel pears, cut into halves, core, and then grate the pears. Put the grated pears into a Dutch oven or other large pan, and add the water. Do not cover pan. Bring to a boil using medium heat, then reduce heat and gently simmer for 1/2 hour. Stir occasionally. Add sugar, and continue cooking until it is translucent and begins to thicken (approximately an additional 15 – 20 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice.

Ladle into hot one-half pint jars to within 1/4 inch of the top. Wipe jar rim and adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-Fashioned Pastry Hearts

Are you looking for a tasty, fun-to-make Valentine’s Day treat? Well, I may have found the perfect recipe for you. Pastry Hearts are made by spreading jelly on pastry dough, rolling into a log, slicing, and then shaping into hearts. The process of squeezing and pressing the dough to create the hearts was fun and felt a bit like playing with play dough.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Pastry Hearts

Servings: approximately 12 hearts
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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pie pastry for a 1-shell pie (or use scraps of pastry dough left-over after making a pie crust)

1 egg white

red-colored jelly – red raspberry, cherry, etc. (I used red current jelly, but if I made this recipe again, I’d select a redder jelly.)

sugar

Preheat oven to 425° F. Roll pie pastry into a rectangle 1/8 inch thick. Thinly spread with jelly. Starting at the narrow end, firmly roll into a log-shape. Cut into 1/4 inch slices.

Place slices on a greased cookie sheet. Shape into hearts by pulling into a point at one end, and pressing in at the other end. Use a paper towel to dab away any excess jelly. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for approximately 10 -15 minutes (or until lightly browned).

Old-fashioned Crab Apple Jelly Recipe

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Thursday, September 11, 1913: Nothing much.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma, you must have done something. Were you too tired to write much because you spent the day in the kitchen helping your mother with the canning?

I made Crab Apple Jelly last week-end. It’s the season for crab apples—maybe you also made some a hundred years ago.

Crab Apple Jelly

5 pounds (approximately 10 cups) crab apples

8 cups water

Sugar

Remove stem and blossom ends from washed crab apples, cut in halves and place in large pan. Add water and cook until fruit is very soft, about 10 minutes.

Strain the mixture through a jelly bag. Do not squeeze or force just through bag.

Measure juice. There should be approximately 7 cups. Pour into a large pan. Stir in 3/4 cups of sugar for each cup of juice. Bring to a boil quickly and cook rapidly until the “jellying” point is reached. This is when the hot liquid coats the spoon and falls from the spoon in heavy drops (two drops forming side by side along the spoon edge that run together and fall off together). Immediately remove from heat. Do not overcook or the mixture will become a syrup rather than a jelly.

Skim off foam and pour into hot one-half pint jars to within 1/4 inch of the top. Wipe jar rim and adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Makes about 5 – 6 half pints.