Gingered Pear Freezer Jam

A few weeks ago I was browsing through Craigslist.com, a favorite past-time of mine, when I came across an ad from a local orchard that was selling 40 lb. boxes of bartlett pears for $15. What a steal! Of course I had to be a part of this, so I called and and bought boxes of pears for some coworkers and then 2 boxes for myself. Over the past few weeks I've been mainly bottling my 80 lbs. of pears, but I also experimented with Pear Sauce (like applesauce, but with pears), Pear Honey (it's the consistency of honey, it doesn't have honey in it), and Gingered Pear Jam. I haven't tasted any of the pears that I've bottled, sauced, or honeyed (I just made that word up), but I had to dive into the jam.

The recipe is one that I found online and the recipe earned a World Blue Ribbon award in the Ball World Freezer Jam Recipe Contest. How could I not make this?! It is an absolutely delicious jam. I'll admit that I was a bit surprised at the taste - you first get hit with the ginger. If you don't like ginger....don't even attempt this recipe! Then you get a refreshing citrus taste, and then the pear flavor comes out. And since this is a freezer jam, it is unbelievably easy to make. No cooking required!

GINGERED PEAR FREEZER JAM

• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 package Ball Simple Freezer Jam Fruit Pectin
• 3 1/2 cups pear puree
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon ginger powder
• 5 plastic Ball (8 ounce) freezer jars (Any plastic container would suffice)

Process pears in food processor or blender until smooth. Stir sugar and pectin in a bowl until well blended. Add pear puree and the rest of the ingredients. Stir for 3 minutes. Ladle jam into clean jars/containers to fill line. Let stand until thickened, about 30 minutes.

Refrigerate up to three weeks or freeze up to one year.