Holiday Highlights

Sunday was the Feld’s Annual Holiday Brunch, a holiday highlight. Tables piled high with food, people crowded into all corners of their charming house in West Chester. We returned home with our stomachs and spirits full and dozed for an embarrassing portion of the afternoon. I’m still thinking about the apple cake and angling for the recipe.  I brought along poached pears and recommend this easy dish for anyone looking for an addition to their holiday table.

Poached Pears

8 ripe but not overripe pears (you’ll want to shop for these a few days prior to give under ripe pears a chance to ripen)

Freshly squeezed lemon juice from 2 lemons

Approx. 2 cups Apple cider

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

Nutmeg and/or Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Peel the pears and slice them lengthwise into quarters. With a small sharp paring knife  remove the core and seeds from each pear. Toss the pears with some lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown. Arrange them, core side up, in a baking dish (or two) large enough to hold the pears snugly. In a bowl, combine the apple cider and brown sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the mixture over and around the pears. You want a generous amount of cider in the dish for the pears to cook in so add a little more if more than half the pear is sticking up out of the liquid. Sprinkle pears with nutmeg and/or cinnamon. Bake the pears, basting occasionally with the cider mixture, for approx. 45 minutes, or until tender.  Use a fork to test – if your pears were very ripe, your cooking time will be less. Set aside until warm or at room temperature.

It’s such a terrific time of year to open the mailbox and find all those holiday cards. We’re also starting to get a first glance at the 2012 seed catalogs which we are setting aside until after the holidays. The tree is up and gift wrapping is next on the list.  My cookie of choice this year is these “cut-outs.” They go by a lot of different names but you know the ones I’m talking about.  Stars seem to lend themselves well to the process and hold up from counter to cookie sheet well.  I used the master recipe for Rolled Butter Cookies from my Best Recipe Cookbook by the Editors of Cooks Illustrated magazine. If you want to skip the artificial dyes and don’t have another alternative on hand,  “raw” turbinado natural cane sugar lends a lovely simple sparkle.  Leave some sugarless for tiny hands, there’s enough sugar in the dough to make them nice and sweet.

Cut out cookies warm from the oven

I was fortunate to run into one of our farm members at Bon Appetite in Princeton yesterday and we enjoyed an impromptu lunch.  Great catching up with you Carley!

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