Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 2 Tbs. wildflower honey
• 1 Tbs. real maple syrup
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds removed – reserving both the seeds and the pod
• 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped or grated (less if you find ginger to be strong)
• Handful of blueberries
• 2 firm pears, cored with skins peeled off (skins and core can be composted or used as an ingredient to flavor the liquid)

Directions

1. Add all but the pears to a pot large enough to submerge the pears and bring to a boil.  (I used a high walled but small pot that made it easier to evenly cook the pears – however the lack of surface area caused the syrup to take longer to reduce).
2. Turn the heat down to a simmer and gently add the peeled pears (as they cook they will become easier to bruise).  Place a lid on the pot and let simmer for 20-30 minutes (I let them cook while I made dinner).  Alternately you could put them in an oven-safe pot and let them bake at 250 for several hours.
3. When pears are soft (20-30 minutes on stove top), gently remove them from the sauce and let them cool.
4. Strain out the solid contents and keep the liquid in the pot – placing over medium heat and allowing it to reduce (stirring regularly) to your desired syrup thickness – I like mine to coat a spoon.  Now – you can keep the blueberries to serve, but we composted ours – they looked too much like Violet Beauregarde for my taste.
5. Spoon syrup over pears and serve.

This would be great serving with some whipped cream or ice cream!