Polly's Prickly Pear Adventure back in 2016

I am not sure if I posted this in 2016 summer, but nevertheless, it was one of a tasty adventure I had.  Come to think of it, I think I probably did post it, but since I already got the page all nice, I am going to post it anyways. 
This is mighty Prickly Pears in my mom's home garden.  It can become one of your favorite fruits when you learn to handle it and prepare them into refreshing fruits eaten fresh or cooked, or made into jam.

To harvest prickly pear, wear a pear of dedicate thick gloves, eye goggles, and a sharp knife or scissors.  You can torch it to remove the sharp fine needles by burning them off with a torch or by water method in a larger strainer.   Torching it would be faster, but I used the water method.  Use a pair of tong to hold onto prickly pear and cut off the pear off the paddle.  Place them carefully into a dedicated throwable bag.
Transfer them with a pair of tong into a large strainer a few at a time.
Run the sink water.   Shake and roll pears in the strainers back and forth until all needs have been removed.  I saw on the YouTube - a boiling method by experienced handlers.

 Use a fork to hold it up, slice the skin off with a sharp knife.

 It smells so wonderful and refreshing.

 Beautiful colors.

 And I ate them!!  a lot of seeds, but my gosh! the first time I have ever tasted home grown fresh Prickly Pear.  It tastes wonderful!

 The rest, I made into Prickly Pear Jelly.  Find a favorite recipe.  And just do it.

 I kind of followed the recipe on the Pectin instruction sheet, but... whatever, I just mixed them up and cooked them and strained them.

Sterilization of Mason jars and lids.

 Time to seal.

 Done!

One for my family, and two for me!