Cooking
Fall is a wonderful time of year. The weather is still good. Many of the summer vegetables and fruit are still fresh and available and fall fruits are coming in too. That means figs and apples and pears in addition to tomatoes and basil. All of which inspires me to head into the kitchen.
While pears and apples are good fresh and raw, I do believe they both improve when cooked. They also take well to warm, spicy flavors like ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, even black pepper. I found a recipe for Ginger Pear Upside Down Cake in the November issue of Food and Wine magazine that typifies fall. Lots of warm spices, a caramel pear topping (or bottom depending) and just the act of baking is a fall activity. Perhaps nothing signifies fall more than the chill in the air that gives bakers the permission to fire up their ovens.
Now all I need is a reason to bake a cake! The biggest problem with baking a cake is that unlike cookies, it's harder to pass off 1/2 of the bounty to family or friends. On the other hand, it may make a good dessert for Thanksgiving, which isn't that far away...
- Roasted Sausages & Pears Recipe
Sometimes the story behind a given dish is complicated. This is one of those recipes, though the recipe is is easy as can be. I'm particularly proud of it because it's rather original and I got a number of compliments on it and even a couple...
- Poached Pears: Recipe
It's pear season right now so if you haven't had a poached pear in a while, treat yourself to a taste of Autumn. Pear season kind of snuck up on me this year. I was surprised to find a dozen Seckel pears in my organic produce delivery last week....
- All About Pears
Summer is fruit season. But one special fruit is in all it's glory in the wintertime--pears. Pears are one of the world's oldest cultivated fruits. They probably originated in Asia but they have been cultivated in Europe since at least 2000...
- Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday and here's why: 1. Friends and Family 2. Open to everyone, no citizenship requirements 3. Great food 4. Nothing required of you other than to eat and be thankful 5. Devoid of excess commercialism unlike you-know-what...
- Dining With The Bloggers - April 20th
So what was that I was saying last week? Oh yeah, "I'm going to be good". Ha! This is one of those weeks. It started with a cookout at my parents, followed the next night by dinner out with my family to celebrate three birthdays, and then I had to...
Cooking
Ginger Pear Upside Down Cake in Food & Wine
Fall is a wonderful time of year. The weather is still good. Many of the summer vegetables and fruit are still fresh and available and fall fruits are coming in too. That means figs and apples and pears in addition to tomatoes and basil. All of which inspires me to head into the kitchen.
While pears and apples are good fresh and raw, I do believe they both improve when cooked. They also take well to warm, spicy flavors like ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, even black pepper. I found a recipe for Ginger Pear Upside Down Cake in the November issue of Food and Wine magazine that typifies fall. Lots of warm spices, a caramel pear topping (or bottom depending) and just the act of baking is a fall activity. Perhaps nothing signifies fall more than the chill in the air that gives bakers the permission to fire up their ovens.
Now all I need is a reason to bake a cake! The biggest problem with baking a cake is that unlike cookies, it's harder to pass off 1/2 of the bounty to family or friends. On the other hand, it may make a good dessert for Thanksgiving, which isn't that far away...
- Roasted Sausages & Pears Recipe
Sometimes the story behind a given dish is complicated. This is one of those recipes, though the recipe is is easy as can be. I'm particularly proud of it because it's rather original and I got a number of compliments on it and even a couple...
- Poached Pears: Recipe
It's pear season right now so if you haven't had a poached pear in a while, treat yourself to a taste of Autumn. Pear season kind of snuck up on me this year. I was surprised to find a dozen Seckel pears in my organic produce delivery last week....
- All About Pears
Summer is fruit season. But one special fruit is in all it's glory in the wintertime--pears. Pears are one of the world's oldest cultivated fruits. They probably originated in Asia but they have been cultivated in Europe since at least 2000...
- Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday and here's why: 1. Friends and Family 2. Open to everyone, no citizenship requirements 3. Great food 4. Nothing required of you other than to eat and be thankful 5. Devoid of excess commercialism unlike you-know-what...
- Dining With The Bloggers - April 20th
So what was that I was saying last week? Oh yeah, "I'm going to be good". Ha! This is one of those weeks. It started with a cookout at my parents, followed the next night by dinner out with my family to celebrate three birthdays, and then I had to...