That is the same recipe except for the amounts. BBB is 6-7 pound of pears, 4 cups of sugar, 1 tsp grated orange peel, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, and 1/3 c orange juice. You can sub the lemon for the OJ but it will taste very different of course. It isn't any safety issue. The additional spices are your choice as long as they are dried spices but over-spicing often ruins things as they intensify during storage. Dave

I made the most delicious pear butter last year, and around these parts, it has to be MAPLE Pear Butter. Although I have an acquaintance that makes an amazing pear butter with vanilla and a good glug of bourbon. But here's my recipe: Maple Vanilla Pear Butter (Source: adapted from Ball Blue Book) 7-8 pounds pears, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks 1/2 cup water 1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar (taste it!) 1/4 to 1/2 cup maple sugar (ditto--could swap brown sugar here or maybe omit and double the maple syrup instead?) 1/4 to 1/2 cup maple syrup (ditto) 1 tablespoon vanilla pinch salt Add about a half cup of water to the chunked pears (just to keep them from sticking to the bottom) and cook over medium heat until the fruit is soft, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a food mill or food processor, and process until fairly smooth, but not completely liquified. Add the puree back to the pot, and add the sugars, syrup, vanilla, and salt. Cook over a low heat, stirring frequently, until thick enough to round up on a spoon. Fill sterilized jars and process for ten minutes in a water bath canner. *The original recipe said the yield would be four pints, but I got just over half that. Perhaps I like my butter thicker than some folks? Here is a link that might be useful: Lindsey's Luscious

I just made a bunch of pear-applesauce. I quartered my pears (and apples) and cored them, but left the peels on. Cooked until soft. Then sent them thru my food mill. I have a manual food strainer - a sieve with a wooden pestle - and I just find that it relatively easy to strain out peels but a bit harder if the cores are still mixed in. I do wash my fruit before using. I have not noticed any bitterness from my peels. Also, I end up simmering my applesauce for a couple hours, so I am assuming that I'm killing off any mold or bacteria during the simmering process.

Well the best laid plans. First of all I DRANK the apricot brandy, and boy was it yummy! I combined it with a glass of dry white wine and a cinnamon stick and nuked it until warm. It was like exotic mulled wine. I have got to make some more apricot brandy! And I was in serious denial about the shape of those pears. After making the cake (yum) and cutting out all of the brown spots from the rest, I had about one pear's worth. So I mixed it with apples and made apple sauce to can. I made that in the crockpot, easy peasy. Thanks for the tips!