A Kitchen Overflowing with Pears
This year our Bartlett and Asian pear trees have been unbelievably generous and we’ve harvested over a thousand pears! While the orchard is beautiful, it also means long hours in the kitchen. I have two kids that love pears so all the extra work is worth it.
After sharing some of my pear paintings recently (you can see them here: A Season of Pears blog post), I thought it would be fun to also share the recipe I use to preserve Bartlett pears. It’s simple, sweet, and keeps us stocked through the winter and beyond.
Bartlett Pear Water Bath Canning Recipe
Ingredients:
- 8–10 pounds of ripe but firm Bartlett pears
- 8 cups water
- 2 cups sugar (for a light syrup — adjust to taste)
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- Cinnimon sticks
- whole cloves
Instructions:
- Wash, peel, and slice the pears. To prevent browning, place prepared pears in a bowl of water with lemon juice.
- Fill up and heat the water in your canning pot and heat up your canning jars. In a second large pot, combine the water and sugar. Heat until the sugar dissolves, making a light syrup.
- Pour the cut pears into the light syrup and boil for 5 minutes.
- Pack the pear slices into the hot sterilized jars, and add 1/4 cinnimon stick and a clove to each jar.
- Pour the hot syrup over the pears, leaving ½ inch of headspace. Use a butter knife to push out air bubbles from around the pears.
- Wipe rims clean, apply lids and bands.
- Process jars in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes (adjusting for altitude as needed).
- Remove and let cool — you’ll hear that satisfying “ping” as the jars seal.
That’s it! Simple, sweet, and delicious!
From Orchard to the Art Gallery
What I love most about this process is how it connects to my studio practice. Just as I capture pears in jars for the winter, I’ve also captured them with paint in my still life paintings. Each approach preserves the fleeting beauty of the season in its own way.
If you’d like to see how pears have inspired my art, take a look at my Monthly Miniatures series, or visit my recent post: A Season of Pears.
And if you’d like more seasonal updates, stories from the studio, and first looks at new paintings, you can sign up for my newsletter here.