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A few years back, I was sitting in my cubicle at the olāFree Press building when in strolled now-retired business writer Martin Cash (remember him?) with a plastic shopping bag (remember those?) full of beautiful yellow pears, plucked from a tree in his yard. They were smaller than your typical grocery store pear, but absolutely delicious.
Iām no green thumb, but I was somewhat surprised there were pear trees in Manitoba. And when I got home and mentioned this to my partner (the resident gardner) ā and let her try one of Martinās delightful pears ā it must have planted a seed, so to speak, as it wasnāt long before she had purchased, and we had planted, a young pear tree for our front yard.
Weād planned to get a second pear tree at some point to act as a pollinator, but there was no need. Thereās clearly another pear tree somewhere in our āhood, because this year, for the first time, our tree was absolutely weighed down with small but tasty golden pears.
The pears from the four-year-old tree, seen in the background, were split up into ripe and unripe groups. (Julia Ryckman photo)
Suffice to say we didnāt really come into this yearās gardening season with a plan for these little beauties.
Rather than pick them in stages by ripeness, all the pears ended up getting picked at once, which was probably a mistake, as we ended up with a whack of ripe ones and an equal amount that were still slightly green ā and, again, no plan.
The pears ended up small in size but big in flavour. (Julia Ryckman photo)
We ate some (and then some more), we gave more away, but the sheer volume meant some started to turn brown ā and the fruit flies, and then wasps, descended en masse.
After some quick research, my partner found this recipe for spiced pear butter , which took care of a decent amount of the pears.
(Warning: if youāre going to make this, use the deepest pot you can manage, otherwise as the pear butter mixture is boiling down, youāll end up with dried-up sweet and sticky pear butter all over your stovetop. Our kitchen ended up caked in pear lava, which was NOT fun to clean.)
Some of the pears that were ripe or on the verge of being overripe were processed into the spiced pear butter. (Julia Ryckman photo)
Anyway, we now have a modest amount of pear butter, which is pretty darn tasty, although Iām not exactly sure what to use it on. Iām open to suggestions, folks.
It doesnāt look like much, but the spiced pear butter ended up being a pretty tasty way to use up some of the fruit. (Julia Ryckman photo)
Speaking of suggestions, thanks for all your responses to my newsletter about Cheez Whiz. I was absolutely inundated with tips on what to do with the stuff ā everything from stirring it into mac and cheese (smart) to spreading it on raisin toast (never gonna happen ā Iām not a raisin toast or even a raisin guy, which is maybe weird for a guy who writes about wine.).
And if you missed Dave Sandersonās piece on Beausejourās Vickieās Snack Bar, be sure to give it a read, as Cheez Whiz makes a cameo.
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