PEARS MELBA (serves 4) 3 cups water 3" cinnamon stick 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 TBL fresh lemon juice, reserving 1/2 tsp One 1x3" piece of lemon zest 4 large pears, stems intact, peeled, halved & cored 1 TBL cornstarch 10 oz frozen raspberries, thawed, drained, reserve juice 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese 2 tsp sugar Mint leaves In large skillet combine water, cinnamon stick, vanilla, 1 TBL lemon juice & zest. Bring water to high simmer; add pears & poach, covered, 10 minutes. (Can be prepared up to this point, covered & chilled overnight.) Add cornstarch to reserved raspberry juice; heat until slightly thickenened. Add berries: cool. Puree cottage cheese, reserved lemon juice & sugar until smooth & creamy. Matching halves, fill each pear half with 2 TBL cheese mixture; stand upright on plate & press halves together. Level bottom, if necessary by cutting off thin slice. Spoon 2 TBL rasberry sauce over each pear. Place mint leaf at each stem. May chill several hours.~~Sounds Delicious FRESH AUTUMN PEAR BREAD (1 loaf) 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 1 cup sugar 2 eggs, slightly beaten 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp grated nutmeg 1/4 cup buttermilk or yogurt 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh ripe pears, skin left on Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9" loaf pan. In a large bowl, using a mixer, cream the butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Add the eggs & vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda & nutmeg. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing gently but thoroughly. Gently stir in the pears. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan. Bake 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.~~More than a Tea Party PEAR CRISP (serves 6) 6 ripe pears, peeled, cored & sliced 1 TBL lemon juice 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 3/4 cup flour 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats 1/2 cup brown sugar Place pears in a greased 2 qt baking dish. Toss pears w/lemon juice, cinnamon & nutmeg. In a bowl, combine flour & butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Add oats & brown sugar. Stir well; sprinkle over pears. Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 20-25 minutes or until browned & pears are tender. Serve w/ice cream or whipped cream.~~Food for Thought

Well thanks ya'll. I just dug up this thread when ysop was looking for senate bean soup recipe. Glad you and your family enjoyed it Judi. Smiles. I eat soup for breakfast and lunch generally until I'm done with the curernt batch that is unfrozen. I just finished my first gallon of lentil soup, so tonight I am going to brine the beans for this bean soup. I just started brining the beans in the past six months or so and can't believe the difference. The skins are so much more tender and it takes a lot less time to cook the whole soup. The outcome is that you can cook it till the beans are tender without having all the skins come off and floating around. I had just bought a ham to use mostly for soups and froze quart bags of meat and skins to use, but also have the big bone, soooo.. this time I'm making 4 lbs at a time so I can use the big bone. Ah... happy camper. Time to start some artisan bread to go with.

ZUCCHINI STUFFED WITH HAM (serves 6) 1 cup ground ham 1/2 cup soft bread crumbs 1/2 tsp dry mustard 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper 2 TBL minced onion 1/2 cup grated Cheddar 2 lbs zucchini 1/4 cup oil 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch 1/2 cup tomato sauce Preheat oven to 350°. Combine the ham, crumbs, mustard, salt, pepper, onions & cheese. Wash the zucchini thoroughly & cut into 3" lengths.. Scoop out the centers with an apple corer, leaving a shell 1/4" thick. Stuff w/the ham mixture. Place the zucchini in a baking pan & add the oil & garlic. Cover & bake until the squash are tender, 45-55 minutes. Remove from the pan. Mix the cornstarch with the tomato sauce & stir into the pan. Cook over low heat until thickened. Skim off any excess fat & spoon the sauce over the zucchini.~~Craig Claiborne HAM CHEESE BALL Two 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened 1 cup ground ham 1 TBL grated onion 2 tsp dried parsley 1/2 tsp seasoned pepper 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. cover & chill 30-60 minutes. Shape mixture into a large ball & coat with the chopped nuts. Wrap w/Saran & refrigerate. Serve chilled w/crackers.~~ You can freeze this before adding the nuts then add the nuts after thawing. NEW ENGLAND HAM LOAF 1 lb ground smoked ham 1 1/2 lbs ground pork 1 cup unsalted cracker crumbs 1 cup milk 2 eggs, beaten 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1 tsp dry mustard 1/4 cup vinegar 1/4 cup water In a large bowl, mix the ham, pork, crumbs, milk & eggs until well blended. Pack into tow loaf pans. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar & mustard, then add the vinegar & water. Spoon some of this mixture over the tops of the loaves & bake in a preheated 350° oven for about 1 hour, basting occasionally.~~St. Michael's Cooks by Design

Hi Sandy, I've made persimmon jam/jelly before. I just cooked it with as much sugar as I wanted - not much, because I also don't like a 'bit of fruit with my sugar' - but I made sure to finish off the jars quickly once I opened them since there wasn't enough sugar to preserve them long term. I also don't use pectin. It turned out more of a 'butter' but the fruit has enough pectin to hold up. The Harvest forum on the Garden side of GW is where all the canners hang out, BTW (link above is broken).