And today we did shop
Dec. 4th, 2004 11:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ksmith...and baked, and shopped some more.
Groceries this morning, followed by the baking of a ginger-pear tart. I had wanted to bake the thing for T-giving, but the pears I bought were so flippin' hard that we had to change plans. 10 days later, they had finally gone from Boscballs to something that could be considered edible by someone without the word "Jaws" in their name. So was the pecan crust assembled and the fresh ginger and cinnamon grated and the chopped pears tossed with orange peel and flour and sugar and topped with leftover crust. Baked for about an hour, until the syrup bubbled over the edge of the pan.
It's good. It's the pears that make or break this thing, and I think these pears lacked. May try Anjou next time. That being said, the difference between store/bakery-bought desserts and homemade was once more driven home. The taste of fresh ginger with the pears. The more subtle sweetness that let the other flavors come through--if this had been a bakery tart, the sweetness would have overwhelmed everything else.
After the Running of the Pups--something akin to the Running of the Bulls, but with less snorting--more shopping, this time online. Bought a leg of lamb for Christmas. Presents. Stuff for the house and garage. Stuff for yours truly.
Tomorrow will bring some more shopping, this time in actual stores. Holiday cards need to start going out. Then maybe I'll be able to get some other things done, including writing, which is going to have to move to the forefront pretty darned fast if I want to get Endgame done in a timely fashion.
Groceries this morning, followed by the baking of a ginger-pear tart. I had wanted to bake the thing for T-giving, but the pears I bought were so flippin' hard that we had to change plans. 10 days later, they had finally gone from Boscballs to something that could be considered edible by someone without the word "Jaws" in their name. So was the pecan crust assembled and the fresh ginger and cinnamon grated and the chopped pears tossed with orange peel and flour and sugar and topped with leftover crust. Baked for about an hour, until the syrup bubbled over the edge of the pan.
It's good. It's the pears that make or break this thing, and I think these pears lacked. May try Anjou next time. That being said, the difference between store/bakery-bought desserts and homemade was once more driven home. The taste of fresh ginger with the pears. The more subtle sweetness that let the other flavors come through--if this had been a bakery tart, the sweetness would have overwhelmed everything else.
After the Running of the Pups--something akin to the Running of the Bulls, but with less snorting--more shopping, this time online. Bought a leg of lamb for Christmas. Presents. Stuff for the house and garage. Stuff for yours truly.
Tomorrow will bring some more shopping, this time in actual stores. Holiday cards need to start going out. Then maybe I'll be able to get some other things done, including writing, which is going to have to move to the forefront pretty darned fast if I want to get Endgame done in a timely fashion.
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A Good Pear
Date: 2004-12-05 05:18 pm (UTC)Re: A Good Pear
Date: 2004-12-05 08:05 pm (UTC)Maybe I should have taken the Anjou to begin with. I almost did, and decided against.
OTOH, maybe it's a 'baking vs eating as is' thing, like with apples. The Bosc pears are not particularly juicy, which is probably a quality you'd want in a baking pear. Otherwise, the tart could turn out really mushy. I noticed that the recipe specified Bosc or Anjou, with no mention of Bartlett. Bartlett can be very juicy.
For all I know, these pears are just as they should be. But I'm comparing them to Bartlett, which are picking-and-eating pears, and explosively sweet and juicy.
I have so much to learn...