When I was a kid my family had a pear tree in the side yard. It was a fruiting tree and every year we could garner its fruit. We also had a black cat named Zipper who liked to climb the tree. One evening, right after dark, Zipper was up in the pear tree and all you could see were his eyes glowing in what little street light there was. Below him, at the base of the tree lurked our Siamese cat, Prince Lee. Every so often, Prince let out a yowl that was very loud and almost human sounding.
That night, hearing the yowling, the neighbor- a very superstitious woman- went outside on her porch. All she could see were Zippers glowing eyes. She let out a screech the moment Prince let out his yowl again.
"It's a DEMON!" She screamed and ran back in.
From that moment on, she called it a "demon tree" and any of our pears that fell in her yard she tossed back into ours. She also stopped stealing the pears. All the better for us that she feared the demon tree and we never told her it was just the cats.
- 4 lb fresh pears (medium-sized, not mini, cored and cut into quarters and peeled)
- 1/4-1/2 cup of water or, my preference, pear juice from the can, with more water if needed
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and a pinch of cloves if desired
- ¼ cup orange juice
- Put the pears in a large pot on medium heat with enough water (or the pear juice mixture) to just cover the bottom of the pot to prevent sticking (about 1/2 cup)
- Cook until soft
- Press pears through a sieve and measure out 2 quarts of the pulp
- Place the pulp back into the pot, setting aside juice, and stir in the sugar, cooking to dissolve.
- Add in the orange juice, and nutmeg, and cook on medium heat until its thick and mounds in a spoon- MAKE SURE TO STIR FREQUENTLY to prevent scorching. This could take about an hour.
- Ladle into sterile jars to 1/4" headspace and clean rims.
- Seal with lids and rings and process 10 minutes in a water bath that covers the jar by 1".