Repeat after me: a cobbler is not the same as a crisp, and neither are the same as a crumble. Or a buckle, a pandowdy, a betty, or a puzzle. Slump, maybe, but only the cobbler. Don’t even get me started on grunts. Who came up with these names??
Continue reading Plum Cobbler
Figs are an oddity in the fruit tree world. If given the right conditions, they’ll produce fruit throughout the year. But what happens if that’s not the conditions you happen to live in? You get creative, that’s what.
Continue reading Traditional Greek Fig Spoon Sweet
Several years ago we planted a Morello cherry tree in our garden. I was a little disappointed to later realize that it would never grow much bigger than 7 to 8 feet tall… until we started pulling in more cherries than I could figure out what to do with.
Continue reading Sour Cherry Jam (No Added Pectin)
Getting a properly ripened pear is tricky at best so I have learned to accept the fact that I may need to invest a little extra time if I want to enjoy these sweet and tender treats.
Continue reading Riesling & Honey Poached Pears
I have a few (okay, a fair amount, ummmm… maybe a lot) of kitchen gadgets. Some I use more often than others, but I really do use them all at some point in time.
Continue reading Pitting Plums (and Keeping Fingers)
When I think of growing blueberries, I think of places like Oregon or Maine. You know, forests and cooler climates. Not 100+ F temperatures in California’s Central Valley zone 9. Yet, here they are!
Continue reading Blueberry (Vaccinium spp.)
With summer officially here, the stone fruit season is now seriously underway. Apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, and all the hybrids in between, are dropping off trees and showing up in markets. Gobble them up now, they don’t last long!
Continue reading Stone Fruit Oven Pancake
My parents have fruit trees. They are prolific producers. We have fruit trees. They, too, are prolific producers. Great! Not so fast.
Continue reading Fruit “Leather”
Pears are fussy things. Every fall you wait for them to get past the hard and tasteless stage and to move on to juicy tenderness, and just when you think you nailed that perfect moment, it turns out you completely missed it and you wind up with mushy or mealy blobs. Ugh. Continue reading Baked Pears
Mostly Greek 