Spiced Pears

RED BARTLETT PEAR

ASIAN PEAR

WILLIAMS PEAR

Spiced Canned Pears 
Makes 7 Pint Jars
16 - 20 firm, but ripe pears ( I used a variety of Red Bartlett,    Asian, Bosc, and William's 4 of each)

BOSC PEAR

2 C. sugar
6-7 C. water
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. freshly grated nutmeg
3 whole star anise
7 pint jars
lids and rings
canning kettle
jar lifter
large ladle

Process:
Clean, peal and core the pears and let the pieces soak in a pot of warm water and lemon juice to deter browning until you are ready to can them. 
Heat the sugar mixture on the stove, water, sugar and spices listed above.  Simmer to dissolve the sugar and then keep warm on the stove.  Load pear slices into jars, I found this was easier to do with my clean fingers as pears can be kind of like puzzle pieces.  Cut pieces smaller if needed to fit but in general keep them half to quarter pieces to retain their firmness while processing.  Pour sugar/water mixture over pears to fill each jar with 1/2 inch head space.  Clean jar rims well, put on lids and process in a Water bath for 20 minutes.

Remove from canner and leave on counter in a draft free area for 24 hours before removing jar rims for storage.  Should keep in a cool dark space for at least one year.

Special thanks to my cat Floydy for helping today.  Always a noisy addition to the kitchen........