Slices of Quince that th Owl & the Pussycat Ate

Dear Family & Friends

In school we were told to memorize the poem of Edward Lear - 'The Owl & The Pussycat'. Part of the poem says: ' They dined on mince, and slices of quince, which they ate with a runcible spoon; and hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, they danced by the light of the moon'. I rattled on without even a clue what exactly they ate - mince and slices of Quince??

boxes and boxes of quince harvested from our two trees

When we moved to Bulgaria, I was mesmerized with a certain fruit tree in our garden. The tree got lots of huge fruits that looks like a cross between an apple and a pear. Later I learned it's called Quince - an old fashioned fruit but it has to be cooked and they taste what a rose would smell. It's a very beautiful fruit tree to have in a garden too.

cleaned and chopped up quince fruit to be cooked

This week, someone decided to help me pick the harvest from our two trees as it is wicked to waste the fruit from year to year. After washing the fussy fruit and chopping it all up, which took us three days at least because we had about four big crates of it to deal with! I spent about four days processing and cooking them.

my goal is to make quince paste or dulce de membrillo

Some kept for fruit crumble, for breakfast cereal mix, or for pancake or fritters. I also made a special quince paste or the Spanish delicacy called dulce de membrillo. Next post I share with you how I make this.

For now, enjoy your day and have a great week:)

Yours

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