Quince

Quince

My latest obsession has been the

quince. 

You haven't seen me for awhile

because I've been busy in my kitchen.

Otow Orchard

My Dad suggested a trip to visit a local farm Otow Orchard

and so began my obsession with the quince.

Before our visit to Otow Orchard I started researching the quince. 

I found out that quince is an old fashioned fruit related to the apple and pear. 

It used to be a popular tree found in many backyards and farms. 

Quince is not edible raw. 

It is hard and very sour. 

It is mainly used in jams, jellies and puddings.

Quince also have a fuzz on them

that you rub off with a towel to remove

 before you peel them for cooking.

Farm Fresh

My parents and I had a wonderful visit at Otow Orchard.

Owner Tosh Kuratomi gave us a tour of the orchard

and showed us what quince trees look like. 

He told us that it hadn't been a good year for quince

and they had a very low yield.

I purchased the few pounds of organic quince they had left

so I could experiment making quince jam. 

Let's Make Jam

Making jam and canning remind me of my Grandma Margaret.

My Grandma Margaret did a lot of canning

on the 100 acre family farm in Pennsylvania. 

My Dad says,

"The cellar was always full".

I am lucky to have my Grandma's blue farm bowl

and her Hardware store cookbook from the 1930's. 

I'm thinking there may have been quince trees on the farm

because there are sure a lot of splatters

on the page for apple or quince jelly in her cookbook!

 Andree's Orchard Quince Jam

It's been over 10 years since I've made jam

but I still had all the necessary supplies for canning.

I did update my supplies though and splurged

 on a French copper confiture (jam) pan

that the "jam queens"
 Christine Ferber from France

and

Rachel Saunders from The Blue Chair Fruit Co.
of California use.

For my first attempts at quince jam,

 I followed Christine's recipe in Mes Confitures for

Andree's Orchard Quince Jam. 

So...

I've been busy the last month or so

in my kitchen

 practicing making quince jam and other quince goodies.

I'll be sharing the results in my next post.

One thing is for sure...

quince is a delicious fall fruit with a sweet floral and fruity taste.

I'm hooked on this old fashioned fall fruit!