Summer Abundance

There are two pear trees in our yard, great big 30-foot tall trees, loaded down with ping-pong ball sized pears. These diminutive fruits are seckel pears, sweet and delicious when at the perfect stage of ripeness. Mmmm. It's harvest time, and the lower branches have yielded plenty to keep us busy! The squirrels are welcome to eat everything I can't reach. If only I could train them to knock down some of the beauties that are higher up in the trees! The first batch of pears became a delicious Walnut Pear Coffee Cake. Last year I canned pickled spiced pears, but I think they were too vinegar-y for our family's tastes. Perhaps I'll try regular canned pears this year. Any thoughts on canning them whole with just the peels and stems removed?

A special boy celebrated his birthday this past weekend. A friend's son has his birthday the day before, so we did a joint party. I contributed this "Tow Mater" cake from the movie "Cars". Volcano cakes are easier, but the little guys were quite pleased with this one. My birthday is next in the queue, and I will NOT be making a cake for myself. To be honest, I don't even like cake! A nice Chinese dinner will suffice, thank you.