pear and cheese

I'm not cooking today.
I've been thinking about damp gingerbread with pears all week, thinking that that would be the dish I brought to fall fest. I made it last year just about this time, but some things just bear talking about twice, don't you think?

All week, I keep coming across the most beautiful pears. At the store and the farmer's market. On the counter and windowsill of every house. Curved like the shape of a woman who enjoys life. In fact, I don't think I saw one ugly pear.


The other day, I got to can with the ladies. It was an applesauce day, and we couldn't keep it simple no matter how much we tried. Saffron applesauce, mint applesauce, plum applesauce, grape applesauce. My shelf is a testament to the ever possible adaptability of applesauce. Golden, fuschia, purple. And there were pears, a dainty 1/2 bushel. We turned them all into juice, melded in the steam juicer with ginger. Ginger pear juice.

All but one. The last pear we sliced thin. Naomi had brought the most exquisite tiny and precious wedge of aged gouda, the kind with a bit of crunch to it. We sat in the midst of our many hued applesauces, and we ate that snack like queens.

Every time I eat a pear with cheese, I think,
"How did I forget that this is the most wonderful thing?"

Although I didn't get my oven going, my fall fest compatriots managed to give me some fabulous ideas as to what to do when I get around to it. Oh, lovely pear, you are a lucky one this week.


Caroline at the Wright Recipes: Three Favorite Pear Recipes

Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Pear, Pecan, Parmesan Scones

Paige at The Sister Project: A Gingery Pear Crisp

Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Sour Cream Pear Cake/

Todd and Diane at White on Rice Couple: Making Pear Galette

Gilded Fork: Harvest Risotto with Caramelized Pears

Margaret at A Way to Garden: Of Pears and Cookbooks, a Delicious Giveaway

Roberto at Food2: 5 Ways to Warm Up to Pears

Michelle at Cooking Channel: What to Pair With Pears

Kirsten at Food Network: Baking Up Pear Desserts

Liz at Healthy Eats: Vanilla Poached Pears, With Variations

And you? How are you paying tribute to the pear this week?