I’ve been driving past this pear tree for oh, I dunno, 10 or so years. The first few years I didn’t know it was what it was. After that I was maybe too full of children to have / make time to stop. 10 whole years of not having time. Ain’t that ridiculous!!

So, anyway. Last week I was alone in the car coming home from the local farmers market, I did not have to be home at any particular time - well, you know… they might have questioned a 5-hr outing. So finally I pulled right over, tipped the market bread from the basket and strolled across the road.

Yep - it was as lovely as that. With a break in the rain that had poured on the market, I was able to snap some beautiful photos {rainy skies have that magical light, don’t you think}, pick some pears and get home in time for elevenses.

Now, they’re not so good as fresh eating pears, so I pondered the best use for them. I love Julia’s ‘A very nice plum cake’ from her first book Ostro, and decided to substitute in pears. In truth the pears didn’t cook properly, so the cake was a disaster - but it looked super super pretty, and that counts for something doesn’t it.

*the cake disaster had nothing to do with Julia’s recipe, I’ve used it many many times and usually comes out near to perfect.