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Pears arrive

Matt’s mom emailed us this tasty idea. Thanks Holly!

“I made stuffed acorn squash for dinner tonight and as I was sauteing the apples, onions, garlic and celery on the stove I thought it needed more flavor and moisture so I added in a half jar of Pear with Honey and Ginger. It was perfect. Then I added the bread crumbs and the whole thing had a great new flavor. So delicious! Just what it needed!”

Try this at home: Cook 2 large acorn squash cut in half, cleaned out and turned over on a pan in the oven (350 degrees) for 45 minutes. Sauté 1 chopped onion, 2 stalks celery, 4 cloves garlic, 2 apples chopped into small pieces in olive oil for several minutes until soft. Add 1/2 jar Pears with Honey and Ginger and stir. Add three or four pieces of whole wheat bread torn into bite size pieces and stir into mixture. Add more pear preserves if more moisture is needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper. When squash is ready scoop bread mixture into 4 acorn squash halves. Sprinkle with cheese and put in oven again for about ten minutes. Delicious!

Clockwise from the top: quince, guyabano, aguaymanto, raspberry and elderberry

In our efforts to understand the art of preserve-making, we spend a fair amount of time eating tasty jams made by other people in other places. So, recently, when Clare’s cousin Greg got in touch with us from South America asking if we wanted him to bring us back some Peruvian preserves, we obviously said “Yes, please!” We got them in the mail and the first thing we noticed was that all of the preserves were in bags! Intrigued, we settled in for a tasting fest.

The biggest revelation was that the jams were not super-firm, like a lot of American options. They moved around in the bag and had a cooked fruit (versus jellied) consistency. I was excited to see this, because we love looser preserves at Quince and Apple. In fact, we’re always getting in trouble because we’re fairly adamant about this – so it was nice to get some international validation!

I started with the raspberry, thinking we’d ease into things with the most familiar. And while this was a recognizable raspberry jam, it was still very different from others I’ve tasted. It was tarter and had the cooked fruit flavor I associate with real preserves. And while it was sweet, it wasn’t sugary. It felt very balanced. My favorite part, though, was the abundance of raspberry seeds. A lot of raspberry jams filter out some of the seeds for a smoother consistency. Personally, I love the seeds and was delighted to find lots of chew on in this preserve.

The next one I tried was the aguaymanto, or the Peruvian goldenberry. Now, I was totally surprised to find this preserve in Greg’s shipment to us because we make a Ground Cherry Chamomile, which is very closely related. And while I had heard of goldenberries, I had never had the chance to taste one!

You can see in these two photos a goldenberry on the left and one of the ground cherries we processed last year on the right. Both have the distinctive paper husk and that amazing yellow color. Ground cherries have a very unique sweet-savory flavor and so I was super excited to try the goldenberry preserves.

The texture was almost like a very thick syrup with lots of chewy fruit bits and small seeds. It was tart and lemony but with a custardy, pineapple-upside-down-cake flavor that was very satisfying. Like the ground cherry, the goldenberry has an elusive savory side that I just absolutely loved. Ground cherries are hard to find and process and this preserve has inspired me to see if we can’t get our hands on some goldenberries!

The third flavor we tried was elderberry. These dark purple-red preserves were delicious and a great counterpoint to the goldenberry. Instead of bright and fruity, these were dark and earthy with amazing wine, cedar and dried plum flavors. The berries were small and crunchy with seeds and were wonderful in a delicious syrupy jelly. I’ve always wanted to work on a preserve with elderberries and this one may have been just the inspiration I needed.

Fourth was our namesake, quince! I’ve had a lot a quince paste, as you can imagine, since we started our business, but none quite like this. Most quince pastes, or membrillos, are very firm and can be cut with a knife, which, to be honest, isn’t my favorite for cheese pairings. This preserve had a nice, smooth consistency, which I really enjoyed. The flavors were also really fresh and floral, with apple, pear and peach flavors. Of all the quince preserves I’ve ever tried, this was by far my favorite.

And last, but not least, was guyabano. I had seen this picture of Greg in Peru with some of the fruits and was fascinated. It has a bright green, thorny outside with a white pulp and large black seeds. It is apparently related to the North American paw-paw, a fruit I’ve been learning more about recently. The flavor of the preserve was like an amazing tropical fruit salad! Bananas, lemons, limes, mangoes and coconuts were are there, accompanied by a really satisfying sweetness. I loved this preserve and really would like to get my hands on some fruit to experiment with.

We love getting to try new things, and I have to say that I was singularly impressed with this set of preserves. Who knew Peru was making such great jams? Fortunately for us, Clare’s cousin Greg did! If you ever find yourself in a foreign (or not so foreign) land and happen upon some out of the way preserves, feel free to send some our way!

I’ve pretty much only seen auctions in movies and had no idea what I was doing, so I was hoping the organizers were willing to take me under their wing and explain how things worked. I had to learn how the auction floor was organized, where the auctioneer would be, how the lot system works and how the bid price translated to the final price. Oh, and also where to buy fresh baked cinnamon rolls if I got hungry.

I went to take a look at the strawberries, finding them on the far end of the warehouse with a big group of people gathered around them. These were my auction competitors, and I quickly realized that I was very much the only outsider. My heart rate picked up a bit. An Amish farmer showed me his strawberries, explaining how he works his fields with a horse-drawn plow and pointing out his delivery buggy. I was officially out of my element.

I did a quick calculation on the back of my auction card and realized that I needed to win at least half of all the berries available in order to make my trip worth it and if I could take all of them, that would be better. My heart rate accelerated a little more.

The auctioneer started at 11 on the dot with a box of rhubarb. I was totally taken aback. I had no idea what he was saying, who was bidding, what the price was and then all of a sudden he yelled, “SOLD!” Check out the video, it’s like a totally different language. I had to film it sneakily because cameras were not technically allowed at the auction – but I had to get this on tape. How was I going to win these strawberries?

I could see that they were going to do the berries soon, so I leaned forward in my seat and strained with every ear and brain muscle I had to pick out what he was saying. After a few lots, I began to get the gist, but just barely. And then the strawberries were up.

I was determined to buy the whole first lot, so as soon as he started talking I raised my card in the air and trained every ounce of my attention on what he was saying. I had a price ceiling and I didn’t want to him to blow by it without me noticing – “SOLD! to the city boy for $75 a quart!” I heard him say $2.50 and then $3.00 and then $3.25 and then $3.50. I threw my card up at $3.50, sensing a slow down in the bidding and a chance to take the lot. He nodded my way, repeated $3.50 again, going once, going twice, SOLD! To me!

I was just so excited at having won my first auction that I didn’t even hear him ask how many of the quarts I wanted. He asked me again, and as it dawned on me that he was asking me a question in front of everyone, I blurted out, “Oh! All of them, I’ll take all of them. Wait, how many is it?”

And that’s how I blew my cover. It was already glaringly obvious that I was a first-timer and not from around there, but now they all knew that I had designs on a lot of strawberries. That pushed the price way up on the rest of the rounds of bidding. Even so, I won three more – taking home 80% of all the berries available that day. People tried to buy them from me after the auction, but I skedaddled home with precious cargo in tow.

Two days of test batches later, we’ve got our first strawberry jars ready to ship out! To me, I’d say these are my best-tasting jars yet – if only because I know what went in to making them happen.

A little background: inspired by the vast array of artisanal cheeses from our home state, we began Quince and Apple so we could make the perfect cheese-pairing preserves. We always keep our recipes slightly savory and the texture a little loose. The end result is a collaboration that brings out the flavors of both cheese and preserve.

So of course we were excited when Pastoral asked us to create the platonic preserve. One that could pair with almost any kind of cheese – sweet and a little tart, luscious but firm enough. Its abilities range from Gouda companion to Brie topper. We filled up hundreds of jars in November, using heirloom Wisconsin apples, so that the ingredients are local all year.

If you’re looking for the perfect picnic, we recommend picking up a bottle of Cava, some Pleasant Ridge Reserve and a baguette to go along with your preserves. You can find Apples in Sparkling Wine on Pastoral’s website or in any of their three stores.

This month, they’ve put together their inaugural Just Because Box – full of makeup, hair serum, sweets and even some beautiful paper cards and coasters. And we’re in it! One tiny jar of our Pear with Honey and Ginger preserves is included in each of these gorgeous, limited-edition boxes.

Which are being promoted in collaboration with Vogue. That’s right! Q&A preserves have now graced the (digital) pages of Vogue. I have to say, we really didn’t see that one coming when we started this business.

So, looking for the perfect summer hostess gift? Something for your graduate sister? Or a fun treat for yourself? Check out the Just Because Box!

We were tasting out the custom flavor we sell exclusively at Pastoral, Apples in Sparkling Wine, which is the quintessential cheese-pairing preserve. We recommend it over creamy brie or a firm alpine-style cheese, and it works with a lot of stuff in between. We were actually situated right next to a woman representing Oma, an original cheese created by the Von Trapp family. For real! And it turned out to be a great pairing.

My personal favorite story came from Ames Farm, who brought their bees to display during the festival. Apparently, bees will die if they’re cooped up at night. So they needed a place to roam – somebody’s backyard. The bees go out and do their bee thing, then return to the hive in the morning. How awesome is that!

We met a ton of people at the festival – some new artisan faves: Sour Puss Pickles, out of Brooklyn, Whimsical Candies, from right in Chicago, Rich Chocolates, Half-Acre Beer…I could go on. All I’m saying is, life is pretty good when work involves meeting and greeting all the people who make the country’s most delicious food.