Pears

Reading Stacey's apple thread made me think about what to do with pears. My neighbour has huge apple and pear trees that hang halfway over our fence. He says we can help ourselves to what we want but what do you do with pears? They are really hard to begin with. Its a shame to let them all go to waste. There are hundreds and he rarely picks any. Any pear ideas?
BTW. Had some pear cider last night from Ikea. LOVELY!!!!!

Peel and core the pears and simmer them in merlot and a cup of sugar until they're soft.  Serve with some nice vanilla ice cream!

Peel and core the pears and simmer them in merlot and a cup of sugar until they're soft.  Serve with some nice vanilla ice cream!

Oooo...that sounds yummy and perfect for my diet! 
Do I have to let these pears soften first? They are really rock hard.

Two ideas -

Pear Butter.  I can give you a recipe if you like, but it's for home canned.  It's really very easy, so amazingly good on toast.

Pear Tart:
Peel and slice the pears thinly, remove the seeds
On a round of pie pastry, arrange them in pretty overlapping circles - leaving about 1.5 inches at the outside
Spread apple jelly over the top
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar
Turn up the outside edges to form an edge
Brush the pastry edges with a bit of beaten egg with water
Bake at about 350 till the pastry is golden brown

I plan to make that tomorrow night actually!

If the pears are really hard, but them in a brown back until they soften up, but keep an eye on them so they don't rot.

You can also serve sliced pears on a nice cheese platter, it's a lovely combination.

Love pear season!!! 

~Liza

Pears will continue to ripen after they are picked.  Put them on newspapers on a table somewhere, not touching, and check occasionally to see how they are doing.  If you like to can, you can preserve them in a sugar syrup with a little cinnamon and cloves added and a drop or two of red food coloring if you want to get fancy, and they are lovely all winter long like that.

You can slice them up when they're ripe as well and use them in a coffee cake or, with a little brown sugar and walnuts or pecans and some nutmeg, cinnamon or cloves, you can layer them and use them as a filling in some pastry.  They can be chopped and placed for several weeks in a large glass jar, again with some cinnamon or whole cloves perhaps with the contents of a bottle of cheap vodka, then strained off, some sugar syrup added, a little more aging and voila, a wonderful pear liqueur.

Lots of good ideas everyone and thanx for the ripening tips! Liza I may try your pear tart recipe this weekend. Sounds fab!

Well, if all else fails, you could always send them to me.  Niall's recently discovered that he likes pears after all. 

Can I post some really? I would love to! Such a shame to let them all go to waste!!

LOL, I suppose you could, but unless there are very unripe, I suspect that they would arrive bruised and leaking.  If we lived closer, I'd definitely take you up on it.  Boy-o has turned into a pear monster!

They should be fine if you wrap them up good, and use some packing popcorn or bubble wrap.  My mom sends me sweet potatoes from North Carolina every year and they make it here just fine.

~Liza