Sunday 21 August 2011

Harvest time

 Our very generous neighbour popped round this morning with these beauties. Some Williams pears and..
 ..some Conference pears. She has pear trees growing up the fence that backs onto our decking area. We can see a few pears at the top of the fence, weighing the branches down. We went round to have a look at the trees in all their glory last week. It was a sight to behold, a bumper crop apparently. Might have something to do with all the rain we have had, mixed with the odd burst of sunshine. I saw our neighbour wandering around this morning, delivering baskets full of pears to all the neighbours. After living next door for 30 years, I think she may be a bit fed up with pears.

The big question is - what to do with them? I think there will be some that will get eaten over the next few days but I do really want to preserve some of them. I've found a recipe for pear and lemon jam which sounds delicious, but I don't often eat jam so I'd like to make something else. Another neighbour has an apple tree in their front garden so I may pick some apples and make an apple and pear chutney as we seem to be getting into eating cheese boards. We had a yummy tea last night of crusty bread, crackers and various cheeses with chutney, celery and grapes. I was amazed at how much celery F ate and how few cheeses the girls tried. Why did they not want to try wensleydale and cranberries?

So, any pear recipes you can recommend??

4 comments:

  1. Pears look delicious - I will always relieve you of a few if you are desperate!

    See you Tuesday.

    Alison
    x

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  2. My kids will eat masses of apples, but not pears - don't understand why not. There are some great recipes online for Pear and Raspberry bread http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/Pear-and-Raspberry-Bread-L2054.html is a nice one, or this one for pear and almond cake http://gourmettraveller.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/pear-and-almond-cake/ YUM! Hope they are useful!
    Sandra x

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  3. Hi Julia. Thought I'd pop in to say hello.
    I recommend this for pears...
    http://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/p/pear_and_chocolate_crumble.html
    But I use half and half apples/pears, leave out the chocolate but put a teaspoon of cinnamon and some brandy in the fruit, using a loaded teaspoon of lemon curd instead of the sugar.
    In the crumble mix I add a teaspoon of ground ginger. It's ridiculously tasty - best made in ramekins to stop you eating too much.
    Hope you and the tortoises are enjoying the summer.
    Lindsay x

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  4. Hi Lindsay, lovely to hear from you. Hope you are well. Will definitely try that recipe, sounds yummy. The ramekin idea is brilliant! x

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