A Poached Pear Kind of Day

It seems a long while since the sun 

has warmed this wet Virginia earth. 

We sit inside doing school, day after day, with the rain dripping outside.

But on Wednesday, the skies were clear long enough that the girls

spent every spare minute outside.

They picked a little bucket of wild pears from a scraggly tree

that grows near the edge of the woods.

This year it’s branches are unusually full.

The fruits are small.

And hard.

And grainy.

But so full of juice and flavor!

They really are not so great for picking up and munching,

So we made poached pears.

 It was an add-as-you-go pot of pears

 that turned out surprisingly delicious.

We added about two cups of water (enough to cover the pears)

and ½ cup sugar to make the syrup.

(I’m thinking of using cranberry juice instead of water next time –

wouldn’t that be nice?!)

The spices were:

One whole cinnamon stick

About 10 whole cloves

A shake or two of ground nutmeg

About a teaspoon of ground ginger (fresh might be better)

And a dash of salt brings out the flavor

We cooked our pears a half an hour or more,

but as I mentioned, they were hard to begin with.

This probably made the cooking time longer.

When a fork pokes through the fruit easily, they’re done.

 I’d say if you’d like to make poached pears with bought fruit,

just choose pears that are still pretty firm,

so they don’t become poached pear sauce.

Although that might be good too! ;)

 And there’s an additional benefit;

the smell of autumn spices filling the house

 is almost as delicious as the pears!

“Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;

teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

Proverbs 9:9,10