Pears.

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It is a lovely thing when you get a phone call from a friend asking you to go apple/pear picking in the middle of the fall. It is even more beautiful when, after you had to decline the offer, the friend shows up with a HUGE bag full of pears anyway. What else to do but make a pear tart?



It. Was. Amazing. And you can find it here. Though, if you are going to make it, please be wary of the fact that there is a little THREE HOUR cooling time here, half and hour there, a pre-bake of 30 minutes, and an actual baking time of 55 minutes. This sucker isn't fast food by any means, but it is SO WORTH IT.

**And, if you want to poach your pears in Verbena, vanilla, maple and lemon juice like I did, no one is going to stop you.

Cute, aren't they?

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My new obsession. I am now on batch #4 (all made within the last 24 hours).

Me.

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Playing around with photo processing. I like the way this one turned out.

If Only I Could be Unemployed Forever.

I have been super busy lately and I wish that I could keep this unemployment thing going on into infinity. I have been baking for a little coffee shop for about three weeks now, and evidently, people LOVE vegan lemon cupcakes...they sold out in one day. I have made white chocolate oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cookies, blueberry maple coffee cake, carrot cupcakes, chocolate chip power cookies, rockin' vegan brownies, home-made pecan caramel cinnamon rolls, fritatta, and? I can't even remember now. We want to start having tea and scones on the menu every Saturday morning, and home-made marshmallows for hot chocolate (or just eating out of hand, they are that good). I have more ideas than I can keep up with, and I have serious concern that my sugar intake has been in the "danger" zone lately. But, we must keep the crowds happy.

There is this awesome guy at the coffee shop who as a band here in Montreal (the guy told me he played a gig in Boston once with Odetta). He is so into my baking that he went home and found this old family recipe for (evidently) the most fabulous cake ever, and wrote the whole thing out for me by hand so that I could make it for him. Did I mention that he spends the entire day at the coffee shop downing coffee, reading everyone's horror scope (that was not a typo) and eating oatmeal cookies by the fistful? I love this place.



I seriously keep pinching myself...my life is too awesome right now. I cannot believe how happy I am in Montreal. It has been a long time since my life has felt this rich and fufilling. I have spent at least 6 weekends in a row at home. I can't remember the last time that happened. And I'm busy!! On top of testing recipes and doing the actual baking for the cafe, I am cooking for a friend who just recently had a baby, looking into getting into school, training aikido every day, getting ready to volunteer for a women's birth clinic and then this...I was approached by a new friend at the cafe to take some pictures of his sculpture work (so that he could submit the photos to a committee to see if he can get into a metalworking art show in Toronto). I spent half a day over there photographing a few pieces and he said he needs help documenting all of his (literally) thousands of pieces. I am not a real photographer, by any means, but I was immensly pleased with the way the pictures turned out, and I think he was too.



Somebody pinch me please...is this my life?? Scientist turned cookie baker and amateur photographer, learning french and drinking coffee in one of the most awesome cities on the planet? Ack. I can't jinx this. I just need to ride it as long as I can. And, by the way, any suggestions for things to bake for the cafe? I have a TON of ideas, but fresh perspective is always welcome.