I love pears. Amazingly, so does Blake. So I jumped at the chance to split 20-some pounds of bartletts with a friend. Then I was left to wonder, what does one do with a dozen pounds of pears? Granted, we could eat them fresh, but we'll be going out of town soon and they'd be way too ripe when we return. This is how I handled the dilemma:
- pear pancakes: I like to make whole wheat pancakes for breakfast once a week or so, so I diced a couple pears and added them and some nutmeg to the batter.
- dehydrated pears: I dried about 20 of them in the dehydrator- they turned out terrific!
- pear butter: Once again, I overcame my fear of the canner and made four pints of delicious pear butter, much to my husband's delight. It's fabulous on toast, and I can't wait to try it on waffles sometime.
- pear pie: Probably Blake's favorite dessert that I make is pear pie, and since he got A's in both his summer classes, I made a pear pie to celebrate his successful return to school. It's sort of like apple pie, only better!
In other food news (not much else is going on here!), I made a great meal this week, and the best part was that every component began with a "k" sound (I love alliteration!): cantaloupe, quiche (bacon-green chili; my first attempt at a quiche), and curried corn (I sliced the kernels off an ear of fresh corn and sauteed them in a little butter, garlic, and curry). I was so pleased with myself.
Though I'm enjoying this nice monsoony summer, fall is starting to sound appealing: pumpkin and cider and chopping wood and lighting candles...we have such nice, crispy falls here, though I do miss the blustery autumns of Washington too. Fall was chillier and damper there; we'd get some terrific storms. This year I'm torn between wanting a lingering summer (mostly so I don't have to drag out my cold weather maternity clothes) and being anxious for the next season. I love how God designed it so that we start to look with anticipation towards what's coming, and somehow are ready for it, while still enjoying where we're at now.
Your always soo handy in the kitchen Brittany! If I were to have gotten that many pears, sad to say most of them probably would have gone to waste in my lack of knowing what to do with them!
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