PEARS MELBA (serves 4) 3 cups water 3" cinnamon stick 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 TBL fresh lemon juice, reserving 1/2 tsp One 1x3" piece of lemon zest 4 large pears, stems intact, peeled, halved & cored 1 TBL cornstarch 10 oz frozen raspberries, thawed, drained, reserve juice 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese 2 tsp sugar Mint leaves In large skillet combine water, cinnamon stick, vanilla, 1 TBL lemon juice & zest. Bring water to high simmer; add pears & poach, covered, 10 minutes. (Can be prepared up to this point, covered & chilled overnight.) Add cornstarch to reserved raspberry juice; heat until slightly thickenened. Add berries: cool. Puree cottage cheese, reserved lemon juice & sugar until smooth & creamy. Matching halves, fill each pear half with 2 TBL cheese mixture; stand upright on plate & press halves together. Level bottom, if necessary by cutting off thin slice. Spoon 2 TBL rasberry sauce over each pear. Place mint leaf at each stem. May chill several hours.~~Sounds Delicious FRESH AUTUMN PEAR BREAD (1 loaf) 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 1 cup sugar 2 eggs, slightly beaten 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp grated nutmeg 1/4 cup buttermilk or yogurt 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh ripe pears, skin left on Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9" loaf pan. In a large bowl, using a mixer, cream the butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Add the eggs & vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda & nutmeg. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing gently but thoroughly. Gently stir in the pears. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan. Bake 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.~~More than a Tea Party PEAR CRISP (serves 6) 6 ripe pears, peeled, cored & sliced 1 TBL lemon juice 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 3/4 cup flour 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats 1/2 cup brown sugar Place pears in a greased 2 qt baking dish. Toss pears w/lemon juice, cinnamon & nutmeg. In a bowl, combine flour & butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Add oats & brown sugar. Stir well; sprinkle over pears. Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 20-25 minutes or until browned & pears are tender. Serve w/ice cream or whipped cream.~~Food for Thought

These were good! Meyer Lemon Madeleines (recipe from newspaper they adapted from a Julia Child recipe) 2 large eggs, lightly beaten in a 2-cup measure 2/3 cup sugar 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon extra for preparing molds 5 ounces (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces Pinch of salt Grated rind of 2 Meyer lemons 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed Meyer lemon Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling Measure 1/4 cup of eggs into a bowl, then, using a wooden spoon, beat in the sugar and cup of flour. When thoroughly blended, let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a 6-cup saucepan, bring it to a boil, and let it brown lightly. Place 1 tablespoon flour in a small bowl and blend in 1 1/2 tablespoons browned butter. Set aside for preparing madeleine pans. Stir the rest of the butter over a bowl of ice cubes until cool but liquid. Blend it and the last of the eggs into the batter along with the salt, lemon rind, and juice. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and set the racks in the upper and lower middle levels. Paint the madeleine cups with the reserved butter-flour mixture. Divide the batter into 24 lumps of a generous tablespoon each and drop them into the madeleine cups. Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes until the cakes are lightly browned around the edges, humped in the middle, and slightly shrunken from the cups. Unmold onto a rack. When cool, turn shell side up and dust with confectioners' sugar. Keep in an airtight container or freeze.

PEAR BREAD (1 loaf) 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 1 cup sugar 2 eggs, slightly beaten 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp nutmeg 1/4 cup buttermilk or yogurt 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh pears with skins Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9" loaf pan. In a large bowl, using a mixer, cream the butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Add the eggs & vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda & nutmeg. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing gently but thoroughly. Gently stir in the pears. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.~~More than a Tea Party PEAR DUMPLINGS W/CREAM CUSTARD (serves 6) 1 1/2 cups flour 1 stick butter, softened 4 oz cream cheese, softened 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tsp sugar 3 ripe pears, peeled, halved & cored 1 egg, separated 2 cups heavy cream 4 tsp cornstarch 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp vanilla Mint leaves (if you have them) Preheat oven to 375°. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, butter & cream cheese. Knead by hand until blended. On a lightly floured surface, roll 1/2 the pastry to 1/8" thickness, using a floured rolling pin. Cut six 7" circles from the rolled out pastry. Mix the cinnamon with 1 1/2 tsp sugar in a small bowl & sprinkle evenly over the pastry circles. Place a pear half, cut side up, in the middle of each pastry circle. Fold the pastry around the pears, brush the pastry with egg white & place seam side down on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake the dumplings 30 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven & cool slightly on a wire rack. For the custard: Combine the cream, cornstarch, salt, egg yolk & 1/4 cup sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the custard coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla & allow to cool. When ready to serve, pool some custard on a dessert plate & place a dumpling on top. Garnish the dumpling with mint to resemble a pear leaf. Dumplings & custard may be made ahead of time & refrigerated separately to be served chilled later.~~Rouge River Rendezvous PEARS MELBA (serves 4) 3 cups water One 3" cinnamon stick 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 TBL fresh lemon juice (reserve 1/2 tsp) One 1x3" piece lemon rind (yellow part only) 4 large pears, stems intact, peeled, halved & cored 1 TBL cornstarch 10 oz frozen raspberries, thawed, drained, reserve juice 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese 2 tsp sugar Mint leaves In a large skillet combine water, cinnamon stick, vanilla, 1 TBL lemon juice & rind. Bring water to high simmer; add pears & poach, covered for 10 minutes. (Can be prepared up to this point, covered & chilled overnight.) Add cornstarch to reserved raspberry juice; heat until slightly thickened. Add berries; cool. Puree cottage cheese, reserved lemon juice & sugar until smooth & creamy. Matching halves, fill each pear half with 2 TBL cheesemixture; stand upright on a plate & press halves together. Level bottom, if necessary, by cutting off a thin slice. Spoon 2 TBL raspberry sauce over each pear. Place mint leaf at each stem. May be chilled several hours.~~from Sounds Delicious PEAR UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE 1 stick + 4 TBL butter 3/4 cup brown sugar 3 pears, peeled & cut in half 1/4 cup pecans 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 egg 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder Pinch of salt 1/2 cup milk Whipped cream Preheat oven to 375°. Melt the 4 TBL butter in a 9" square baking pan & sprinkle w/the brown sugar. Arrange the pear halves & pecans in a desinnnng on top of the sugared butter. Cream the remaining butter w/the granulated sugar & beat in the egg & vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking powder & salt & add alternately w/the milk. Spoon the batter carefully over the pears. Bake about 35 minutes or until done. Let cake stand 5 minutes before inverting onto a serving platter. Serve warm w/whipped cream.~~Craig Claiborne PEAR VINAIGRETTE 1/2 cup chopped, peeled fresh pear 1/4 cup rice vinegar 1 scant tsp Asian sesame oil 2 TBL orange juice 3 TBL olive oil Salt & pepper to taste Combine the pear & vinegar in a processor container & process until smooth. Add the sesame oil & orange juice & proces until well mixed. Add the olive oil gradually, processing constantly until combined. Season w/salt & pepper. Store in the refrigerator up to 2 days.~~Oh My Stars PEAR CRISP (serves 6) 6 ripe pears, peeled, cored & sliced 1 TBL lemon juice 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 3/4 cup flour 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats 1/2 cup brown sugar Place pears in a greased 2 qt baking dish. Toss pears w/lemon juice, cinnamon & nutmeg. In a bowl, combine flour & butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Add oats & brown sugar. Stir well; sprinkle over pears. Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 20-25 minutes or until browned & pears are tender. Serve w/ice cream or whipped cream.~~Food for Thought

Cloudy, wow, your memory cells are working better than mine. I have NO recollection of that post. Yup, what Nancy said. Just toss those cookies (no, I don't mean throw up) in a food processor, whirl away,and sprinkle. Nancy I saw a Mango-chili vinegar today and I ALMOST put it in my cart for you. Luckily I found an open bottle on the sample shelf. Glad I passed on it. OK I ended up making the cheesecake last night without the apples since I ran out of kitchen energy. Boo hoo. Couldn't get to the 'puter for Linda's recipe, so I borrowed a 1995 Cook's Illustrated one I knew about...whaddya know, pretty much exact same recipe. Except I put in 1/2 tsp Boyajian lemon oil. Almost too much. That stuff is strong enough to epilate hair off my legs. DH the critic said it was very, very good cheesecake. Why don't my pants fit this morning? Still gotta use up those apples, too hot to make apple butter. Grrrr.