Time for dem pears again, hon

I finally tasted the creme de cassis, and darn if it isn't good! Got that confirmed by a couple of "tasters" of the kir royales that I made, who agreed that not only was it good, but it was doing a good job of covering up some rather miserable bubbly someone had given us as a freebie (thankfully, that was after we'd had some good champagne). Note to self: always use decent sparkling wine!

Since the kitchen I have is considerably smaller than the doctor's in Sonoma, and not very conducive to hot water canning, I decided to continue with the alcohol-based preserving. The marketeer gave me some beautiful pears she and the lawyer had picked last weekend, so I mixed some Red Bartletts and Boscs in a lovely, big Italian jar I bought recently, and added vanilla, sugar, and about 5 cups of vodka. Since it needs to sit for at least 3 months (preferrably 4), it'll probably be New Year's before we can try the resulting liquor. Just when we'll need it!