A hotch potch of scraps.

I had to make a quiche for work last Friday. We were out on Thursday night, so I made the pastry and cooked the bacon and onion, and left myself a list of everything to remember at 6.30 on Friday morning. After I had my shower and while the quiche was still in the oven, I realised I'd forgotten the extra-mature cheese I'd specially bought. To put it bluntly, I'd forgotten to add any cheese at all. No wonder there didn't seem to be as much filling as I expected and I was left with an empty round pie shell. On Saturday I dealt with that by turning it into a Pear and Frangipane Tart. (Everyone said how lovely and moist the quiche was, and there wasn't a scrap left - I still haven't confessed!)

Which reminded me of this easy pear recipe which I used to cook as a dessert when I was catering for Wet, Wild and Windy Weekends in the Scripture Union centre around this time of the year.
Bake Pears in Caramel Syrup: for 6-8
Take 6-8 medium sized ripe pears, peel, cut in half and scoop out the cores. Roll gently around in a dish with 3 tblsp of lemon juice, to prevent discolouring.
Arrange the pears cut side down in a shallow dish just the right size to hold them. all. Drizzle any remaining lemon juice over, and then sprinkle with enough cinnamon and ginger to give a taste but not be too strong.
In a pan, heat 8 ounces / 1 cup sugar till it melts and goes pale golden brown. Pour it over the pears, making sure to keep your hands well above the dish, as the caramel will spit on contact with the pears and lemon juice.
Bake at 190C / Mark 5/ 375F for about half an hour, till pears are tender. Serve warm with some of the syrup from the pan, and vanilla icecream or thick whipped cream.
Now I want upside-down pear gingerbread - and with the weather having got as cold as it has, it's the time of year for it. I finished my sweater in perfect time.

I don't often post cards here, but I was so happy with how this one turned out, given that it was for a difficult situation - someone leaving work because of redundancy.