Pear Pickin

Pears are not one of my favorite fruits but I could not turn down the offer to do some pear pickin. 

One of my former neighbors sent me a message asking if I would like to have some pears. I said “sure”. 
He said, “Great, there is a pear tree behind my shop that is full of pears and they are going to go bad if no one picks them”. So me and Nick grabbed a box and headed to Bessemer City. 


In no time, we had a box of fresh pears. This was a sign business tucked away in an industrial park and we also got a nice tour of the place. It was interesting and we learned a few things.


As soon as I got home I washed them and began looking for recipes. These pears were a little hard and tart but I thought they were good. I have eaten a few for snack and even made some pear preserves which turned out wonderful. Pear preserves are easy to make and great on toast or yogurt.


These preserves also have added cinnamon and vanilla. 


While I was outside the other day, I noticed a few butterflies so I shared some pear with them. Then my daughter came home to visit and I ended up giving her a few pears to take home. I think I have had my feel of pears for the year. 

Now I’ll share with you how I made the pear preserves.

PEAR PRESERVES
•4 cups chopped pears.
•2 cups sugar.
•1\2 Tbls cinnamon.
•1/2 Tbls lemon juice.
•1/2 tsp Vanilla.
~Add  pears and sugar to pot and cook until the pears are soft. Then smash to consistency. 
~Add cinnamon, vanilla and lemon juice and continue cooking until thickens.
Makes one pint (one large jar).
Double recipe for more.

Clothespins

Who has never been to Disney world? This girl!!! That’s who! I will probably never go during the rest of my life. My husband has no intensions of us ever going and I’m not driving eight hours away without him. So thats that. But honestly, I really don’t care about going. Disney has never really been my thing though I used to love Mickey Mouse as a teenager. I grew out of that phase. 

I speak of Disney World because my daughter will be going again for her 3rd time. This time will be different for her. She is a glamor girl and likes the fancy hotels but this time she has decided to rent a camper on a campground at the Disney park. I guess we put the camping life in her blood somehow through the years. I think she will enjoy it. 

I decided to give her a couple little things she can use on her Disney Camping trip. One thing I think she can use will be some clothespins. There is a little story about hanging clothes on the line that Nick enjoys telling people. When he took me on my first ever camping trip to the beach, I was not so sure about it. As we drove through the campground to our destination, I was looking at campsites and said “There is no way I’m hanging my clothes on the lines like these other people are doing”.  Before the day was over, I was hanging towels on the line. I fit in and adapted just fine and love the camping life now. 

Ok let me get back to the clothespins. I purchased a pack of the short bamboo clothespins and got a little crafty. You know I had to add a little Mom touch. I painted her a few sets of Disney themed clothespins. 


These clothespins can be used for hanging clothes or used as chip clips. They really do make the best bag clips. I have several in my kitchen.

Each one is hand painted with acrylic paint and then sprayed with varnish for the final finish. The varnish will keep them from fading or staining. I had a lot of fun painting these and she seemed excited about taking them with her. A little part of me goes with her everywhere.

This would be a great project you can do with your kids. If you do not have varnish, you can use modpodge. A bag of clothespins in most stores are no more than a dollar and the paint is only 50 cent each at walmart. It’s the love and time put into painting them that makes them priceless. 

If you would like to purchase a set you can also visit my Etsy shop.