First off, what is it?  Does it have butter?  Is it good??  Fruit butter is like thick apple sauce. It’s a spreadable fruit paste that is so good!  There’s no butter in it, and it is delicious!

I learned a few lessons from this one.

One: Crockpots didn’t give me the texture I wanted.

Two: Time isn’t something a crockpot cares about. I cooked the butter on high for about 36 hours before I gave up and blended it, then used the stove top to cook the pear butter down. I think that had I used the stove top, there would be more of a caramel flavor too. Good lesson learned!

Bottom line, would I make this again. Yes!  It is so good!!

Recipe:

• 9 lbs of ripe pears, peeled, cored and chopped (do this after you gather all of your ingredients, so you don’t end up with oxidized fruit.
• Booze. (it is me, after all). I used 4 tablespoons of dark rum
• 1/4 apple juice (I used non-filtered)
• 6 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 heaping and packed cups dark brown sugar
• 4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg (fresh grated)
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger (dried)
• 2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 star anise
• 2 teaspoon sea salt

The spices I used were to taste and fall-oriented. If you like more, put in more!

I combined the sugar, spices and liquids together in the crockpot and turned it on high while I prepped the pears. Once they were all chopped, I threw it all together and mixed it up, making sure I scraped the bottom of the pot and that the pears were coated. I out on the lid and waited. And waited.

And waited.

Oh, how I waited. After 36 hours, I was tired of waiting, and blended it all up, and put it in a dutch oven and cooked it down until it had the consistency I wanted.  I sterilized 9 pint , filled with a ¼ in head space, and did a water bath boil for 10 minutes.

It has a rich, caramel color, smells like fall and taste like happiness! It is so good on Greek yogurt, but would go well with chicken, as a glaze.

How do you celebrate the start of fall?

Raina

Today is the anniversary of 9/11.

I remember my then husband running into our bedroom-I had the day off of work, but was scheduled for classes in Seattle. I was groggy, wondering why he was yelling about planes. He said, “A plane. A plane just hit the World Trade Center”.

I remember wondering why a plane would hit the tiny banking building a few miles from us, also called the World Trade Center.

I remember that I had never heard him sound that panicked as he explained that a plane, full of people, had flowing into the World Trade Center, also full of people. I was fully awake, but still couldn’t comprehend. I didn’t get why someone would do that. It must have been a mistake, something wrong with the plane. That couldn’t happen on purpose.

We watched, eyes glued to the screen as smoke billowed up. Then, the second plane hit.

We wept.

We watched as people ran, people fell, people…We watched as the buildings came down. Just a matter of minutes, but it felt like hours.

The world was quiet for days, if not weeks, after that. People were gentle, kind, a little more patient.

I fear that as we get farther away from that horrible event, we’ll forget. We’ll forget what it meant to come together as a nation, as a people.I fear that it could happen again.

Here’s to never forgetting, and remembering that connection to each other.

Raina

Oh, Tiny.

She makes me laugh, makes me want to pull out my hair, and makes me question everything I do and know. In short, she’s pretty amazing.

Yesterday, she ran around with her rubber duck held high in the air, making it “fly” while making pterodactyl noises. She’s very big into dinosaurs right now and couldn’t have been more excited and proud of herself for mimicking the noises on the documentary we watched and the book we looked at. She’d zoom the duck around, squawking, and then look at me, cheeks flushed and smile wider than the whole world.

Oh my sweet baby.

We later went to Lincoln Park to the beach for a friends birthday-the sun was warm, and even though Izzy wouldn’t sit still, it was a great time. I was able to get some fun pictures of her. Oh my Sunshine.

Well, Hello 🙂

Welcome to my new home! All of my old posts from Tigerlilydesignsseattle.blogspot.com are here. Heck, there’s even some OLD stuff from my old days with tigerlilydesigns.wordpress.com.

I needed a change. I needed a cute site. I needed my own URL, darnit!  And here we are.

Welcome to Make Mend Grow. My new site on making things, mending things, and growing-both as a gardener, and in terms of learning.

Thank you so much for joining  me!

~Yours in Craftiness~

Raina

Burdick Brewing – South Park (Seattle)
You guys. I love this place. Max is a genuinely awesome guy and a great brewer to boot. I could stop here and just tell you to go, but I won’t. Sadly, it’s been a while since I have been, despite this gem being walking distance from my house. The space is large, with high ceilings and cool vintage lights. Local art curated by yours truly adorns the exposed brick walls. A giant projector screen rolls down to watch games. If that’s not enough, there’s even local musician events. This is a one-stop date night, rolled into a place that just feels like home. This, my friends, is my replacement for Baron Brewing. What’s good? Yes. I loathe IPA’s, but Max makes an IPA that is actually good. The Honey and rye, which was one of his first and a low alcohol beer danced in your mouth. The Pale was solid, as was the Stout. Ah heck. What are you doing still reading? Stop and go!
Parking? Street.
Noise level? Depends on what is happening. When local heroes Fluffer played, the place was packed! On a given Thursday, the vibe is super relaxed.
Beers on a scale of 1-10? 8-9.
Food? Nope, but you can grab something from Napoli or Muy Macho our local tasty food places.
Playtime? Max is baby friendly, as is the brewery. There’s room for the littles to stretch out.
Website: http://burdickbrewery.com/

Lowercase Brewing – South Park (Seattle)
These new(er)-comers to the hood are genuinely sweet guys, too. And the best part? They share a wall with Burdick. It’s not uncommon to see the two brewers comparing notes. The space is small, but looks super cool, with upcycled furnishings and pallet walls. You have to see it to get it. The Mexican Lager is darn tasty, and they also make a good root beer. The beers aren’t hard core, and are lighter alcohol. The best part? They also show Game of Thrones! 
Parking? Street. Stay parked and go to or come from, Burdick.
Noise? Since it’s small, it can get noisy, but it’s likely to be South Parkers, so it’s cool. We’re a raucous group. 
Beers on a scale of 1-10? The Mexican Lager? A 9; The others? Nick says a 7. 
Food? They have snacks and mighty tasty hot nuts.
Playtime? If it’s crowded, it’s babes in arms level of space
Website: http://www.lowercasebrewing.com/

Tin Dog Brewing – South Park (Seattle)
Yet another local gem. Lisa and her hubby Erik are pretty darn awesome. They are friendly, fun, and brew some good Bavarian beers. Izzy loves Lisa, and Lisa is always quick to grab Izzy for us, so we can enjoy part of a pint. A few months ago, I got sick, and Lisa emailed to make sure I was ok. It’s that kind of place! The brewing set up is pretty slick, and you can get a quick tour. The taps rotate pretty frequently, but a food good standby’s are there regularly. Another upside? It’s a few blocks away from the Lowercase and Burdick.
Parking? Tons! They are in the industrial plaza at the West end of South Park.
Noise? A good consistent hum of locals chatting and laughing, great background music, but it’s nothing overwhelming.
Beers on a scale of 1-10? If you like hops, you’ll have a happy day. If not, fret not-there’s still more to choose. The beers also have a higher alcohol. The saison is super good, the Jaggery Belgian had tropical notes and the Hefe’s are banana-y. The beers for me, range from good, to holy pants. I give the Jaggery a 10. 
Food? These guys do it right! They have small plates of snacks made from local eateries.
Playtime? Super kiddo friendly, but note that there’s a garage door that opens to a parking lot by a busy main drag. Lisa is an awesome beer-Aunt. 
Website: http://tindogbrewing.com/

West Seattle Brewing – West Seattle
This place was great-tons of seating, both at the bar and at tables. There’s big screens for great game watching, and the building itself is pretty great. It was an old quick-E-Mart converted into a funky new business. The guys that were pouring were friendly, and really loved the beer. They were happy to talk to us about it, and asked what we thought about them. All in all, a great joint. It was HOT that weekend, and so they were one-third of their beers, but as you can see in the picture above, there were still quite a few beers to try out. I liked the red and the American Wheat. Nick really liked the Imperial Stout and the Red.  So, what’s the run down?
Parking? Plentiful, with a small shared lot, but a lot street parking available
Noise level? On a weekend afternoon, there’s music and quite a few people, but you can carry on a conversation without raising your voice
Beers on a scale of 1-10? 8. Nick says 7.5, but he was distracted by our Tiny Beast.
Food? None, but they do have a BBQ joint right next door
Playtime? Fellow parents bring their kids, too.
Website? http://westseattlebrewing.com/

It’s hard to believe we’ve already been back almost a week – the time away, and the past few days have gone by in a blur. After a day of rest, we jumped right back into our normal lives-gardening, cooking, and of course going back to work. 

I’ve been having a lot of fun lately-at work, at home, with South Park Arts. It’s been keeping me busy. I’ll write a full review soon, but to tide y’all over, I interviewed a brewer friend of mine!  You can read that interview here.

Read on, and if you’re local, go check out Burdick Brewing!

Cheers,
Raina