WINTER WARMER: BAKED CARAMELISED PEAR

It's a cold and frosty day and the time of year when you have fruit left over from the summer, or can pick up cheaply at the supermarket. 

Looking for a quick pud to make!  

Very often making a pudding for one doesn't seem worthwhile but if you are cooking something for dinner this is a quick pudding you can pop into the oven at the same time.

WINTER WARMER: BAKED CARAMELISED PEAR

FOR ONE SERVING

Just one pear,  Conference or similar,  cut in half length ways and remove any core or pips.

Place skin side down in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of liqueur such as Cointreau or brandy.

Then sprinkle with castor sugar, I have used lavender sugar.

Bake in a hot oven for about 20 minutes or until brown and the sugar has caramelised. 

Pour on hot ready made custard and stir, the caramel will melt in the custard giving it a lovely flavour.

Cold winter's day and shopping... with plans for the summer garden and recipe for salad with strawberries

Buy seeds now for summer flowers and vegetables and a recipe for a nice winter salad with strawberries.

It is just about freezing today and grim so it is not a day for doing much.  Off to the supermarket and found fabulous offer at Lidl 29p each for some packets of seeds.

You don't even need a garden to grow vegetables they grow very well in pots and containers.  Potatoes in dustbins, salad in an old sink, runner beans in planter tubs with some tall canes, courgettes, carrots, peas, the possibilities are endless with a bit of imagination. You can grow in small quantities for yourself and they taste so much better than from a supermarket.

Today I bought some flowers seeds also to plant up soon in my mini greenhouse - which cost me £19 and is perfect for planting seeds up a little earlier and for overwintering non-tender plants... even to grow some lettuce in during the winter. 

At the moment I have lambs lettuce = corn salad, growing in planters, and it weathers the frost... so much nicer than those bagged salads full of chlorine ten times strong than a swimming pool and you can pull a few leaves at time.

An eminent TV chef once criticised an entrant in a cooking show for using fruit with lettuce....mmmm he is wrong... 

A few sprigs of the wonderful nutty leaf salad mixed with a dressing of red or white wine vinegar and some  Walnut or corn oil,and chopped up strawberries, mix in.... yes strawberries is fabulous. Am enjoying with some York ham and some oven cooked chips for my dinner this evening. 

I bought some beautiful cornflower seeds which will be fabulous growing in a large container as well as the garden and will make a wonderful display as a cut flower in the summer in a pretty jug.

The Sea Lavender seeds will make plants in the garden which can be subsequently dried and then used in the autumn or winter when fresh flowers are scarce and pricey.   

Just for a treat, well they were on offer I bought two boxes of delicious chocolate truffles. So whilst  I sit and do my planning for the summer garden a cup of tea and chocolate.... treat... 

The beginning of how to use your time: with ideas and tips on home, garden, travel and hobbies - New beginnings.... and a recipe for scones

New beginnings.... and a recipe for scones

At this time of year the weather is not good, the days are short and dark....  but it is the time to start thinking about the things you want to do in the coming year.  Now you no longer  have to get up to go to work or work to a routine, you are free to do so many things, but it is easy to let time slip by.  So why not plan your garden or days out or holidays, or projects you want to achieve, perhaps learning a new skill, or enjoying the hobbies you never had time for before. 

Time to have a clear out and tidy up and make way for new... whether it is fixing a piece of furniture and repainting, or clearing out your wardrobe, mending things, sewing on buttons, or just decluttering..

It's time to achieve even small things.

So even though the weather doesn't inspire you sit down with a cup of tea or coffee or even a glass of wine and start making to do lists.... you don't have to stick to them but just jot down projects and start researching.... for when the time is right to get outside. 

So let's start: 

How about making a nice batch of scones to have with some cream and jam and a cup of tea whilst you start your planning...

Easy Scones:

8 oz. self-raising flour sieved in a mixing bowl, 

2-4 oz. butter chopped into small pieces and then rubbed in

a pinch of salt

Couple of tablespoons of castor sugar - lavender sugar is even nicer 

Couple of tablespoons of mixed dried fruit if you want them a bit more spicy

Then add  

5 fluid ounces of milk, to bind together. 

Knead lightly but not for too long until bound together smoothly.  

Roll out to about 1/2-3/4 inch thin and cutout rounds with a glass or cutter.

Brush each with milk and then place on lightly buttered baking tray. Bake at bout 200 degrees Centigrade for about 10 minutes until lightly brown.  Leave to cool slightly.  Serve with nice homemade jam if possible and butter or whipped double cream.

Won't cost a fortune for a "cream tea" and will be pleasurable whilst you take about that notebook read to get started on your future projects.

ENJOY

💚