After the doom and gloom of our dismal cooking arrangements, I wanted to reassure you that all is not quite so bad Chez Chica and Big Man.
We have inherited a beautiful pear tree in our new home. Well, it’s in the garden of course, not growing in the middle of the sitting room. Which would make day to day life a little awkward.
It’s a tiny Victorian back garden but we still have the original wall and it’s south west facing, so it’s warm and sunny.
Obviously, being without an oven, pies and crumbles have been out of the question but we’ve enjoyed sharing them, eating them with cheese, cooked and served with thick cream and some have been cooked and frozen for a rainy day. It’s raining today, I think we might be eating pears…
(For those of you with proper kitchens, pop over to Roger’s blog and be inspired by this beautiful recipe.)
Chica Andaluza 
How lovely! Pears in red wine with thick cream comes to mind – winter, summer, rainy day, sunny day. Any day is good for me.
Have a wonderful week ahead Tanya.
🙂 Mandy xo
PS. Are you going to share any renovation pics with us? I would love to see what you are up to. x
I agree with you! Wasn’t sure if I should show any more renovation pics – didn’t want to bore you L But maybe I will now!
Oh no, your renovation pics could never be a bore! Yay. Look forward to seeing the changes. xo
Thank you Mandy 🙂
How lovely to have a fruit tree in your garden!!! 😄 and is looking very healthy! (As an agronomist couldn’t help to notice!)
I think it has only been “fed” with water – needs a prune this year!
What a fabulous pear tree Tanya! I can’t believe how much fruit it has on those limbs! We’ve just planted a peach tree in our north-facing garden (the sunny-side for Australia), but it’s going to take a few years to start bearing fruit like yours!
How funny – of course the north is the sunny side for you! We have a little peach in Spain and it produced this year after only three years (but grown from a seed) so hopefully you won’t have to wait too long!
That’s a lovely pear tree and back garden! I bet the pears would be nice poached in wine 😉
I like pears poached in wine a lot but then I open the wine, have a slurp, then another….well, it all goes downhill from there 😉 Which reminds me, have just finished Floyds autobiography. Not sure how much he left out or “amended” but I did enjoy it.
Ha ha – you have to buy two bottles!
I was very tempted to go to Floyd’s funeral service. It was held in Ashton Court, next door to Bower Ashton, where I went to Art College. They chose the right place, there’s a deer park next door. I used to arrive each morning and look at the dinners before my morning coffee 😉
I bet it was interesting – a humanist ceremony I think? He really influenced me, I even went to a book signing! Loved his style of presenting, they even showed the bits when it all went horribly wrong…
He was amazing – all the shows were ad libbed and unscripted – he knew all that food info and didn’t have to look it up. I also like the way that the cooking was done on location come rain or shine. I find modern food shows where they visit a food location and then go home to cook, quite deficient in comparison. Floyd was genuine – no studios, no legion of assistants or home economists, no tricks and far more enjoyable for it 😉
And not a “trained” cook either – in his book he says he didn’t like to call himself a chef as he had received no formal training. He was not a happy soul though – such a shame.
For someone untrained, he did a remarkable job as chef and proprietor of restaurants in Bristol before his TV debut. From the book, it seemed to me that he was too trusting and not a great manager of his own affairs – he seemed to become unhappy about half way through the book.
I agree – that’s certainly how it comes across.
Oh my…a walled garden and an old pear. How wonderful!
It was a carefully framed shot – it’s a tiny garden and there’s a workshop/warehouse thing at the back…although no one ever seems to be there so it’s very quiet and private!
It sounds blissful…small but perfectly formed.
😉
It’s a beautiful tree, I’m hoping for a partridge in it for Christmas! xxx
Coming right up! If we don’t get an oven soon, it might have to be braised rather than roasted 😉
I was hoping for a lovely literal end to my rendition of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, not putting it in the pot!!! Sigh…………….once a cook, always ………. xx
Sorry 😉 And I have an oven now as of yesterday…all very exciting here!
What a beautiful pear tree! Hopefully they’ll be good eaters!
They are absolutely delicious – and good crispy and a little more mature, cooked and raw!
What a lovely back garden. 🙂
Thank you – small and sweet!
Inspirational cake indeed Ms Chica however nothing beats a juicy perfectly ripe pear picked straight from the tree 🙂
Except maybe a peach 😉 But we don’t have those in our English back garden L
Pear cider comes to mind 😄
Big Man LOVES that idea!
Thought he might 😉
How lovely to have your own pear tree! I think the more simpler the better! As you did, with some cheese and wine, that would be perfect for me. A pear at breakfast with a bit of almond butter…I wish I had that tree!
Wish I could send you some of the pears but I think you’re eating wonderfully right now in Italy!
What a delight! We’v just moved and I’m overjoyed to have a well established apple tree in our garden, but me being me, I’m hankering after more … might start a mini orchard!
You could buy yourself a press and make pear cider – no oven required and plenty of alcohol at the end of it 😉
We are loving the idea of pear cider and, who knows, maybe next year…!
Caramelized pears with butter and brown sugar in a pan with a bit of ice cream would be good! Wish I could make you a pear bread. I, too, would love to see renovation pics!
Oh yes, and maybe even salted caramel?! I am starting to dig out some renovation pics to post soon 🙂
So beautiful. What a tease to be without an oven! Still though. Thank you for sharing such pretty pics.
Thank you Amanda!
How lucky you are to have a fruit trees in your garden 🙂
You’re right – in Spain we can enjoy oranges, lemons and peaches. In England apples and pears!
What an amazing amount of fruit. Wish we were neighbors and we could put those pears in our cider press. 😀
Oh I wish that too!
Looking forward to forthcoming pear tarts 🙂
It was pear crumble and custard yesterday!
A tiny Victorian garden sounds like bliss! I can’t wait to have outdoor space for our little Olive to frolic when we get back to NZ!
Ah, she’ll love it!
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a pear tree bear so much fruit! It’s utterly fantastic.
It was pretty amazing!
Pears. So many lovely suggestions from everybody, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with plain, unadulterated, sweet ripe pears. What a gift! 😀
xo
You’re right – they’re so good just on their own – only a very few left now, but we’ve really enjoyed them!
Oh they’re GORGEOUS! How wonderful to find them growing in your backyard like that!
It was like we got a free house with the tree 😉
If the make your own juice seems to make the body healthy ..
This certainly is very refreshing and very suitable in summer