This recipe is awesome and as we speak my kitchen smells amazing!!! Delicious on toast but also pears excellently with goat cheese. Enjoy!!

Vanilla Pear Jam

Found at Food In Jars

makes 3.5 pints (fills seven half pint jars)

8 cups chopped Bartlett pears (or any smooth, thin-skinned pear. No need to peel.)
2 vanilla beans, split and scraped
4 cups sugar
1 packet liquid pectin(I used a powdered)

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, combine chopped pears, sugar and vanilla beans and vanilla seeds.
2. Cook over medium heat until the fruit can easily be smashed with the back of a wooden spoon.
3. Use a potato masher or immersion blender to break the fruit down into a mostly-smooth sauce (remove the vanilla bean solids before blending).
4. Add the pectin and bring to a rolling boil. Let boil for a full five minutes in order to active the pectin,
5. Fill jars, wipe rims to remove any residual jam, apply lids (heat canning lids in a small pot over very low heat while you’re preparing the jam to ensure a good seal) and screw on the rims.
6. Process the filled jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes (start the timer when the pot has returned to a boil).
7. Remove jars from pot and place the jars on a towel-lined counter top. Let them cool undisturbed for  two hours. During this time, the lids should seal.
8. Check to ensure the jars have sealed by pushing down on the center of the lid. If it feels solid and doesn’t move, it is sealed.

Just an amendment...Dana and I only used half of the sugar and we mashed the pears (kind of) with a potato masher because we think that chunky jam that tastes more like pears is better. Other than that we followed the recipe.