February Fruit

I'm not sure how it happened, but I've had quite the excess of pears lately. I've done my best to put them to good use (an almond pear tart, a brown-butter pear crisp, etc.), but they were just going mushy too fast, not to mention the fact that I was simply turning my pear excess into an excess of rich baked goods. So I turned my last few into a simple pear spread and, though sweet, it's a good use for them indeed.

Simple Pear Spread

Ingredients:
+4 ripe pears
+1 apple
+3 tbs. orange juice
+1 tbs. lemon juice
+1/2 - 3/4 cup brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want your spread)
+1/2 tsp. nutmeg
+dash of salt

Peal, core, and chop fruit into bite-sized pieces. Place in a medium saucepan along with orange and lemon juice. Cook over high heat until boiling, and then continue cooking for 15 minutes, stirring continuously. Reduce heat and simmer (still stirring frequently) for ~20 minutes.
Add brown sugar, nutmeg, and salt and continue to simmer until reduced (if necessary, press fruit mixture into a strainer to strain out any excess liquid). Pour into a sterilized glass jar.

I've been having mine over soy-butter on toast in the morning--yum!