Photography

More baking with pears

~ MaryG ~ 24 Comments

What are your favorite side-hustle ideas?

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Maybe…baking? Or blogging? Or painting watercolors? Or singing?

Nah.

Nobody would pay me money for any of my hobbies, which is fine. I’m no longer an earner. I’ve accepted that. According to my last Social Security Statement, I had reportable income every year from 1980 to 2023. That’s 43 years of paid work. According to financial planners, my husband and I have saved and invested enough money to enjoy a comfortable retirement into our 90s, barring runaway inflation or a global financial meltdown—both of which seem highly likely in our current kakistocracy. I’m not really sure I believe the financial planners, but I’m going with it. However, we’re really trying to keep our spending down these days, which brings me back to baking at home.

We tried yet another recipe with our homegrown Bosc pears: America Test Kitchen’s Pear Crisp. I did that thing where I found the recipe on ATK but I didn’t want to pay for a subscription so I signed-up for a 7-day free trial, screenshotted the recipe, then cancelled the subscription before I got charged. Is that wrong?

AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN PEAR CRISP

Ingredients

• ¾ cup coarsely chopped nuts (3 ounces/85 grams) I’m allergic to nuts so I substituted 3/4 cup of oatmeal (it was a genius substitution, if I do say so myself 😉)

• ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour (2½ ounces/71 grams)

• ¼ cup packed light brown sugar (1¾ ounces/50 grams)

• 4 tablespoons granulated sugar

• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• Table salt

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon

• 3 pounds (1361 grams) ripe but firm pears (6-7 medium)

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Process nuts, flour, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in food processor until nuts are finely chopped, about nine 1-second pulses. Drizzle butter over flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles crumbly wet sand, about five 1-second pulses, pausing halfway through to scrape down sides and bottom of workbowl. Set aside while preparing fruit.

Because I substituted oatmeal for nuts, there was no need to use a food processor. I used only a fork to make the topping.

2. Whisk remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and pinch of salt together in large bowl. Peel pears, then halve and core. Cut each half into 4 wedges and then cut in half crosswise (pieces should be about 1 1/2 inches). Gently toss pears with sugar mixture and transfer to 8-inch-square baking dish.

Not gonna lie, this step was a pain in the neck. My husband bought a tool to scoop out cores of the peeled pears, but forgot he had it, so he did all this work with a paring knife.

3. Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit, breaking up any large chunks. Bake until fruit is bubbling around edges and topping is deep golden brown, 27 to 32 minutes. Cool on wire rack until warm, at least 15 minutes, and serve.

This is the unbaked version. We ended up leaving it in the oven for the full 32 minutes and pears were perfect. Tender and sweet.

VERDICT: Good. 👍 The topping works well with the pears. I had it hot with ice cream for dessert (yum) and also cold for a snack that actually felt relatively “healthy” with all that fruit and oatmeal. It’s not as exciting as the Dutch Pear Pie or Pear Cobbler, but I would make it again.

Related posts:

A Baking Post (Dutch Pear Pie) featured on Freshly Pressed

Another Baking Post (Pear Cobbler)

Stress Baking (Puff Pastry Apple Strudel)

Fruit Trees

A Jackson (Apple Pie)

Deer me

Deer me

~ MaryG ~ 21 Comments

What are your best healthy eating habits?

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So far, the dreaded Nor’easter (windy rainstorm) has not been too bad here in non-coastal Greater Boston. Our power is still on. Most of the Bosc pears are still clinging to our tree.

The deer have been enjoying the ones that have fallen. And since I’ve never seen a fat deer, I’m going to go with “eat a lot of fruit” for my best healthy eating habit.

Mom is unconcerned with paparazzi. Bambi is a bit skittish.
Chewing
Those pears are so good, even Dad finally came out of the woods to try one.

Knock on wood that the storm doesn’t get too much worse and that coastal dwellers stay safe.

Photo credit to my husband on the last two photos and the video. He got a new phone (Google Pixel 11 XL Pro) and it’s got quite an impressive zoom feature in the camera.

Another baking post

~ MaryG ~ 22 Comments

How do you write what people actually want to read?

One of my recent posts was selected for “Freshly Pressed” on WordPress and I got some nice comments and a few new subscribers. It’s a post about baking a Dutch Pear Pie with fruit from the trees in our yard. So, welcome to anyone new here. I assume you love dessert like me.

I post about a variety of things, including baking, but mostly I just talk about whatever’s on my mind, including whatever the WordPress “daily prompt” elicits from me. I like the community here on WordPress. Most people are very kind and supportive.

We finally harvested some of the Bosc pears on our tree because a big Nor’easter (windy rainstorm) is expected this weekend.

Over 15 pounds of Bosc pears harvested and there are still many pears left on the tree.

The Bosc is the last of our fruit trees to ripen (we also have a Winesap apple and an Asian pear) and honestly, I think we should wait a bit longer to pick the rest of the pears. I don’t think the ones we picked are fully ripe yet, but that didn’t stop us from trying out another new recipe.

This recipe—for Pear Cobbler—is one I found on YouTube. I was able to screenshot the relevant information. (I’m sorry I lost track of the original creator.)

FRESH PEAR COBBLER

Pear Filling

• 4–5 cups diced pears

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons corn starch

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Batter

• 1 1/2 cups flour

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 cups milk

1. Combine the diced pears with the sugar, corn starch, water, and cinnamon.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and milk until combined.

3. Set the oven to 350°. Melt one stick of butter in a 9×13 baking dish.

4. Pour the batter over the melted butter (do not stir), then spoon the pear mixture on top.

5. Bake for 1 hour.

6. Serve with ice cream.

VERDICT: Very good. It think it’ll be even better next time with riper pears. We were wondering how this cobbler was going to “cobble together” since you don’t stir it, but it actually does. It’s definitely a bit of a pain to peel the pears, but you really have to with Boscs. We used a potato peeler.

Related post: Stress baking

Brooklyn

~ MaryG ~ 25 Comments

I have returned from a busy weekend in Brooklyn—the borough of NYC from which my mother’s parents hailed. They left Brooklyn for another great immigrant city—Worcester MA—long before I was born, so I had never been to Brooklyn before. All my prior trips to NYC were Manhattan only.

We were there to celebrate the marriage of a beloved nephew in his early 40s and got a glimpse into his life there. A very urban life.

Due to Amtrak cancelling our train, we had to drive from Massachusetts. A last minute detour sent us over the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, from which we could see the Statue of Liberty, which was very cool. It almost made up for all the traffic we hit in Connecticut.
This part of the Brooklyn waterfront is called Pebble Beach. There are great views of both the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges.
Manhattan Bridge
Blue steel is a feature of the Manhattan Bridge
Jane’s Carousel, built in 1922
View of the financial district from under the Brooklyn Bridge. That’s the Freedom Tower with the black spire.
Lady Liberty in the distance
A bison puppet in Brooklyn
A herd of bison puppets 🤷‍♀️
My son and his girlfriend in front of a chain link fence with a heart on the Lower East Side/Chinatown (Manhattan), where we went for an interesting dinner
Both jellyfish (top) and chicken feet (bottom) were served as appetizers. I tried both.
I couldn’t bring myself to try the “live fish” because I was too afraid of getting a bone stuck in the back of my throat, which happened to me once as a kid.
The happy couple sharing their absolutely beautiful vows 🥹
Weather was pretty rainy so this lovely patio area was a bit soggy, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.

We made it back to Massachusetts in much better time. (The traffic gods were with us.) But my ears are still ringing. Brooklyn was loud. From the constant sirens to the extremely noisy restaurants and bars, I’m happy to be home and can’t say I’m dying to head back to NYC anytime soon.

Stress baking

~ MaryG ~ 43 Comments

I gotta say, this whole situation with the midterm election (and Trump’s plan to undermine it), the mess in the Middle East, inflation, AI coming for us…and on and on…is…STRESSFUL.

Baking with fruit from our own trees is a good counterbalance to the news.

A friend’s trip to Germany inspired me to try making apple strudel for the first time. My husband cut-up the last of our Winesap apples and we used a recipe I found online.
I have very little experience baking with puff pastry. It turns out the timing of when you take it out of the freezer is a key.
There were dots of butter under the top sheet of puff pastry, which I brushed with milk.
After 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven
Amazing. No ice cream needed.

The midterm elections have begun. VOTE like your life depends on it, because it does. VOTE early if you can.

Find voter information here.

A baking post

~ MaryG ~ 39 Comments

We are making the most of the big harvest we got from our fruit trees this year.

I had a recipe for “Dutch Pear Pie” printed out in a 3-ring binder. I had scribbled “good” in pencil across the top—and so it is.

My husband did the hardest job of chopping up most of our remaining Asian pears. The rest is pretty easy. Something about a streusel-topped pie that’s just so delicious. And it’s really not that hard. No special equipment required. I just softened up the butter for about a minute in the microwave on 50% power and then made the streusel with a fork.

How do you like my “staging” of my pie in this photograph? I feel like I really nailed it. I’m getting a lot of compliments from my friends on Instagram. So many, that I’m reminded of a Josh Johnson comedy bit about how much white ladies LOVE autumn. (Oh they do, they really really do. I’m a summer lover, but my friends love fall.)

Side view of a slice 😋

This is one of the rare baked fruit pies that doesn’t require ice cream or whipped cream. (I mean, they won’t hurt, but they’re not needed.) It’s a complete dessert on its own. I think the sour cream in the filling fulfills the dairy role.

Here’s the recipe:

Betty Crocker Dutch Pear Pie

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 box Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box

Filling

  • 1 cup sour cream
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Gold Medal all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3+ cups coarsely chopped fresh pears (6-8 pears, or as many as will fit in your pie shell)

Crumb Topping

  • 1 cup Gold Medal all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • ½ cup butter or margarine

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 425°F. Make pie crust as directed on box for One-Crust Baked Shell, using a 9-inch glass pie plate; do not prick crust. Carefully line pastry with a double thickness of foil, gently pressing foil to bottom and side of pastry. Let foil extend over edge to prevent excessive browning. Bake for 10 minutes. Carefully remove foil; bake 2 to 4 minutes longer, or until pastry just begins to brown and has become set. If crust bubbles, gently push bubbles down with the back of a spoon.
  2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix the filling ingredients. Pour into the warm baked pie shell.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix the crumb topping ingredients with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the filling.
  4. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown. After 30 minutes of baking, cover the top of the pie with foil to prevent excessive browning. Cool at least 30 minutes before serving. Store in the refrigerator.

Source: Betty Crocker / General Mills

Final note: we didn’t peel the pears

The Great Elephant Migration

~ MaryG ~ 27 Comments

If your pet an elephant could talk, what would be the first thing it says?

100 life-size elephant sculptures, each hand-carved from the invasive plant lantana camara by roughly 300 Indigenous artisans from India’s Nilgiri Hills and modeled after real, named elephants, are on display for free along Boston’s Commonwealth Avenue Mall. They’re all facing in the same direction—moving as a herd down Comm Ave.

So, what would they say? Thinking…

Maybe, “stick together – we’re all we’ve got”

A Jackson

~ MaryG ~ 20 Comments

What’s the best thing you’ve ever found randomly on the street?

Money. That’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever found in the street. I don’t think I ever found more than $20, but one time a twenty-dollar bill floated right in front of me in the ocean. It glided by on a gentle wave. Turns out that a wet twenty needs to dry out in the sun, but then it works just like a regular twenty. 😉

Quick update on the fruit trees—the fruit picking tool arrived! And there’s plenty of fruit left out there. The squirrels are still MIA.

My second Winesap apple pie of the year just came out of the oven. I’m using the recipe on a ceramic pie plate that I’ve had for at least twenty years. I believe my mother got it at a “garage sale” for me.

So maybe this pie plate is a better answer to the prompt. Around here, “Garage sales” typically take place on the street in front of the home.

Graveyard installed

~ MaryG ~ 22 Comments

I am happy to report that the young fellow we hired to install some new garden beds and a deer fence for my husband was successful. Matt was our “plow guy” last winter, but we discovered he also does landscaping (as many plow guys do). Matt brought along two actual children with him as helpers and they worked all weekend long. When I asked if the boys were his nephews or younger brothers, he said that they were just two industrious boys who asked for work. It turns out they were 14 and 15 years old. I have never seen boys that young work so hard. I was a bit worried about them, but the weather was perfect and they seemed fine. I brought out snacks a few times and my husband gave them each a cash tip.

Matt in the new garden area on Saturday morning
Here’s how it looked Saturday night
And here’s how it looked last night after they left—my husband entering the raised bed enclosure for the first time.
Does it remind you of anything??
I’m sorry, but to me it looks like a bunch of freshly dug graves 🤣
If we got more trick-or-treaters, I’d attempt to create a graveyard scene for Halloween. I mean, it would be PERFECT.
A blank slate for my husband to pursue one of his great loves (plants) in his upcoming retirement. You can see two of our fruit trees behind the raised beds, and the big clump of cannabis plants on the right. (They’re going to get moved inside the fence next season.)
If this were an actual family graveyard, I think I’d want to be buried in one of the big containers inside the deer fence. This big grave seems too exposed. It is slated to become a butterfly garden 🦋

So, back to the prompt (sort of):

What’s the kindest thing someone has ever done for you?

I think it was pretty darn kind of me to help make one of his retirement dreams a reality. (I found Matt and had the bright idea to contact him for this job.) Last weekend was supposed to be my Bucket List trip to Acadia National Park, which I canceled mostly because my husband was not feeling well enough to travel. (Weather would’ve been perfect for it too.)

I trust my kindness will be repaid in organic vegetables, pretty flowers and cannabis galore in the coming years. And I’m sure I’ll make it up to Acadia – eventually.

Fruit trees

~ MaryG ~ 36 Comments

We hired the young man who plowed our driveway last winter to help install my husband’s new vegetable garden (aka The Retirement Garden), which will have four large raised beds, irrigation, and a deer fence. (Fingers crossed the kid is up to the job. The soil where the fence posts need to get sunk in is very hard.)

In the meantime, a few of the many fruit trees my husband planted about twenty years ago have survived deer and other blights and are producing fruit. And for some reason, this year, the squirrels are missing in action. Typically, they would’ve had these trees stripped by now.

I made my first ever pie from the apples in our yard yesterday.

According to Google,
“Winesap apples are a classic American heirloom variety prized for their deep, cherry-red skin, exceptionally crisp texture, and unique, tangy, wine-like flavor. Dating back to the colonial era, they are famous for an intense sweet-tart profile with spicy undertones, making them a premier choice for fresh eating, cider brewing, and baking.”
My Winesap apple pie was really good. I used the basic recipe that’s printed in the bottom of my pie plate, but these apples definitely have a complex, spicier taste than the usual store-bought varieties.
Thank you squirrels for taking a vacation this year.
Bosc pear tree
Asian pear tree
I have done some baking with our Asian pears in the past, but they’re very sweet. They’re best eaten fresh off the tree.
These beautiful pears are hanging just out of my reach, untouched by squirrels. We finally broke down and ordered a fruit picking tool so we can get these down, but it’s not being delivered until Tuesday. 😕 I really I hope we beat the squirrels to these.
And here’s a throwback photo (August 2002). Check out that harvest. My husband grew all that food! He actually remembers the exact moment he went Organic after reading the ingredients on a bag of grub killer at our first house in Canton, MA in 1995.

Growing some of our own food again has become increasingly appealing in Trump’s America. Between skyrocketing food prices, never ending news of American food supply contaminations, and now an absolutely ridiculous trade war with Canada, we want to put our sunny yard back to doing something useful.