1. Mix them with sweet apples for pie (what my neighbor does) 2. Make "membrillo" 3. Paradise jelly (I've made almost 20 jars this year). 4. Preserves Linda Zeidrich's Joy of Jams has a few quince recipes, try doing a search on Harvest forum too. Here's my recipe (small batch, the original was a huge batch) for Paradise Jelly (apple-quince-cranberry): Paradise Jelly (makes 3 halfpints) I steamed the quinces a couple of days ahead and put the juice in the fridge. Didn't weigh them, but probably 5 lbs of quinces yielded about 7.5 cups of juice - or at least brown water (I'm not sure how much pectin was in the juice - I kept adding water to the pot while steaming.). I think the juice would have been lighter if I had simmered the quinces, or if I had a steam juicer, instead of trying to steam them in the oven - they oxidized. Then I did the apples and cranberries another day (just 5lbs of mixed apples, not all tart, most Golden and Red (?) Delicious since that's what I had. Got about 6 cups of juice from those.) Used a 12-oz bag of cranberries cooked until just popped in the hot strained apple juice, let drain in linen jelly bag for 5 hours, refrigerated juice and put the fruit pulp into a Ziploc bag with the apple pulp. I milled the fruit the next day, cooked with 1/2C of sugar, and made about 36 oz (pint, 12-oz jar processed 20 min and 8-oz jar in fridge) of cran-applesauce. I strained the apple-cranberry juice through coffee filters the next day. Now, for the jelly: Mix the quince juice and the cran-apple juice half and half (or whatever you have). Use no more than 4C of juice total, or this will set before you get it in the jars. Use at least a 6-quart (deep) preserving pan b/c it will foam up like crazy. Add 3C of sugar to the 4C of juice, I also added 1 tsp of bottled (strained) lemon juice. Simmer, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved, then raise heat to a boil (make sure your canner is preheated with the jars sterilized if processing only 5 minutes). Boil until gel point (220 at sea level) or until jelly sheets from a metal spoon (remove from heat while testing). Quickly skim if necessary. Jar immediately, keeping ladle close to funnel. Do all 3 jars at once, then go back and spoon off any foam from the top of the jars, adjust the headspace to 1/4", wipe rims and put lids and rings on. DON'T use a bubble freer even if you see tiny bubbles in the jars - just wait til they rise to the surface and spoon the foam off. Process 5 minutes (for sterilized jars) or 10 min (for unsterilized) in BWB. The last jar you fill may have some small bubbles, and you might have an ounce or 2 left in the pan to put in the fridge. Rinse out the pan with very hot water and dry before starting the next batch - you don't want "threads" of old jelly in the new batch. This may set up very quickly (while you're ladling it into the jars) or it may take a couple of weeks depending on the pectin level of the juice. Set the cooled jars away on a level surface and leave them alone for 2-3 weeks before you decide you've made syrup instead of jelly. I tried reprocessing some and found that the top of the jar was liquid after a week, but the bottom was starting to set so I should have left it alone. The apple-quince jelly I made is taking longer to set than the stuff with cranberry in it.

Ellen, your dinner estchévere! Spanish for: "kicks butt." You're lucky to've found Membrillo; I can no longer get that locally, so I've been thinking of making it myself. In Cuba, we often snacked on Membrillo and Queso Blanco. I love Manchego, but it was nonexistent on the island, so Membrillo was typically served with Queso Blanco. Match made in Heaven. Sol

When I lived in San Diego, I would make Cincinnati-style chili for potlucks -- always very popular! I would bring cornbread to have with it instead of the traditional spaghetti, though. I've been in love with pumpkin chili lately. You can't really taste the pumpkin, but it adds a richness and smoothness to the stew, plus a real nutritional bonus. My apples are dwarfs so they will never be out of the reach of the hoofed vermin. We are in a close-in suburb of Columbus, but near the river and have a creek ravine which is well-wooded just 2 blocks away. They roam the neighborhood every night, and sometimes in broad daylight (and show no fear!!) The deer have a route that they follow to access yards from the front, so the gate that I installed seems to be deterring them for now. I am sure it is just a matter of time before they figure out that they can get into the yard by jumping the side fences from the neighbors. Just this summer we have been seeing foxes. Have always had trouble with raccoons and rabbits. It is still freezing rain here; it did snow but stayed above 32F so maybe I can salvage the rest of the green tomatoes.

raee..I sure hope your bush comes back ! I have jars of the syrup now too...didn't make it sweet enough to gel. We like it slightly tart. You will have to post back if/when you get some quince. Ginny ,..thank you ! It is good ;) OH NO!! A2..I am so sorry. There is a learning curve for sure. You get well and give it another shot in the future on easy trails and work your way up. It is definitely something that you have to let your feet do the thinking. Whenever I overthought it I would turn my ankle too. Your feet know what to do. Good Luck ! haha,,..mnt ! I didn't think of that I knew the K and W part. We do eat well here. Love to cook and might as well do it up special rather than just get by. Pear and quince sounds very yum and so does that brittle. Thank you for posting. c