Cooking

My to do list is a mile long but I can't seem to get out of the kitchen.  Tonight, stuffed bell peppers and then (after Biscuit's bedtime) I made pasta from scratch to make butternut squash ravioli. The filling is DELICIOUS--I only hope the pasta is as tasty when we cook it up for lunch. The butternut squash was from our garden (I'm sure that's why it was extra tasty ;)

Last weekend I made (and canned) mango chutney and on Thursday I made pear sauce (think apple sauce) and pear butter both of which are in jars in the cupboard.

The pear sauce and pear butter was particularly easy:
Wash and chop into about 1" pieces many pears (enough to fill your pot to the brim). Feel free to throw in a few peeled apple chunks (you don't have to peel the pears) and about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer/boil for quite a while until it all gets really soft (about an hour or so). Stir frequently.  Use a hand crank food mill to make it mostly smooth (don't worry if you miss some) and stir in a few dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg. Keep cooking to desired consistency. Put in sterile mason jars and process in boiling water (I'm not sure how long so I guessed 15 minutes, please don't call me if this doesn't work--check a cookbook!). 

If you don't quite use all the pears as chunky sauce, you can use the rest to make pear butter (hard to make in large batches). Mill again until perfectly smooth and toss in some more cinnamon and nutmeg and add a bit of sugar. Cook over very low heat until quite thick and then chill or process in mason jars. This is delicious on toast!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

PS that pasta maker was my latest SCORE. $5 and brand new at the thrift store. Lucky me ;)

Comments

[claire]

wow! you have been busy! Sounds SO yummy!

[farfromca]

sure wish i lived close enough to come over for lunch... sounds so festive and fall-like. :) Pumpkin spice lattes are out by us already... what in the world??? It is still hot and steamy!