Pear Apple Sauce

Not a fancy recipe, just a plain old staple with my signature fusion of organic home-garden fruits - viz., apples and two varieties of pears.

We had a lot of apples and pears and plums from our garden this year. Usually, the trees skip a year or two bearing bountiful fruits only once in 2 years or so. This was one of those good years.

As we don't use any pesticides or chemical synthetic fertilizers, the worms and bugs get to the fruits often unless we are vigilant. Plums seem immune from any infestation so far.

After canning about half a dozen pint jars of Apple Plum Butter, I still had enough apples leftover to make something else.

We had very few traditional pears - the kind that kids loved eating off the tree for a snack. But, there were plenty of Asian Pears. (Also susceptible to bugs.)

And that's how this Pear Apple Sauce came about: After cutting and discarding worm-eaten fruits, there was enough pears and apples to make about 2 half gallon jars and 2 pint jars of Pear Apple Sauce.

Simply chop the fruits coarsely (skin and all), cook in just enough water to soften them. Puree in batches. Return to boil. Keep simmering while canning as usual in a Boiling Water Bath.

I added a hint of cinnamon and some Agave nectar as I had splashed some lemon juice on the cut fruits to keep them from browning too much. If it is too tart, the kids don't prefer it, but I didn't want to use any sugar.

Just 4 simple ingredients (two is probably all the is traditionally used): fruits, water, cinnamon, agave nectar, simmer and save.