Playing with pears

Well, I'm at it again in the kitchen. After my hair appointment was cancelled on Tuesday (my stylist was in the hospital!) we drove on up to Catoctin Orchard to pick up some more apple cider and see about some pears. I'd come across a few recipes that I wanted to try and I wanted to try them with fresh pears.

I don't know too much about these lovely fruits because if I did, I'd have known that pear season is pretty much over in our area. The pickins were a little slim, quantity- and variety-wise, but we did bring home enough for a crockpot full for pear sauce (like apple except with pears) and a recipe or two. We also bought a small bottle of pear cider -- yum, really good!

The pear streusel loaf I made yesterday with Bosc pears is not one I'll be bragging about -- surprisingly very dry in spite of two, count 'em, 2 sticks of butter! I might try it again with apples or juicier pears, but I dunno. It was disappointing. The pear sauce I made today with Magness pears, though -- wow! Good stuff! I think I've found a new favorite pear. Very sweet, very juicy, very good (I'm eating the three we have left!) ;-)

Think I'll wait a couple of days to see if our 4 leftover Bosc pears will ripen more. If not, I guess we'll just sauté them, call it a side dish, and try again next season.