Pear bread and Liberace pumpkins, ahh...Fall is here

We have a lovely pear tree in our front yard that dumps pears every year from August to October. We let the deer eat lots of them, we share them with friends and eat plenty on our own, but I wanted to find a good recipe for baking with them. I made pear pie last year, which was yummy, and have tried out different crumble recipes, but this pear bread was really tasty. It's similar to zucchini bread, but with a somewhat more grainy, pear-like texture. Very moist and flavorful, great for breakfast and afternoon tea.
Recipe here.

In other news, aren't these the cutest/most gaudy Halloween decorations? I'm making one...or five. Directions here.

Trip to Ireland

Sorry about the radio silence, but we've been on a lovely, long trip in Ireland. My husband is from Northern Ireland and this trip has been long in the works.

It was great for him to get back home and wonderful to introduce our little one to all things Irish. I was thrilled to get back to the country that feels like my second home. I mean, look at how beautiful and green it is...

Here is a short video of Grafton Street in Dublin. It rained on this day (and on the other 16 of the 17 days we were there--hello Irish summer!)

 So the trip plus the fact that I am now six months pregnant (!) combine to make one pretty good excuse for not blogging for the last three months if I do say so myself! I hope to do more now that we are in fall again (ahhhh) and I'm itching to get baking and crafting.