Adventures in Homemaking: Ginger Pear Tea

I've got a pear tree in my backyard that's heavy with fruit. I've never lived anywhere before with an yielding fruit tree so I'm decidedly excited about the opportunities. I already turned some of them into baby food for the Little One, which went over well considering he's been less than enthused about starting solids.

But there's only so much pears the kid can eat, right? Meanwhile more and more of my "crop" is falling to the ground and being eaten by critters. So today's experiment was ginger pear tea, based loosely on this recipe from the food network.

All in all, it was a pretty painless process. Boil sugar, grated pears, and ginger in a few cups of water. Then let it simmer till the pears are soft.

Boilin' and simmerin'

 Then you just gotta strain it and let it cool. 

I went and extra step and split it between two jugs and then mixed them with regular black tea... gettin' all adventurous, ya know.

The verdict? Not bad! I think I mixed a little too much tea in there and diluted the pear flavor a bit. Either that or I didn't add enough sugar. I'm a southerner and we like our tea SWEET.
Added Bonus: In an attempt to save money and reduce waste, I try my best to get at least two uses out of my household resources. So I used the strained off pear shaving to make bread. It's in the oven as I type and it smells delicious. But the final results may be a bit capricious because the pantry is a bit bear and I had to take some liberties with the ingredients. Stay tuned to find out how it works out...

YOUR TURN: What else can I make with a tree full of pears?