Tuesday 18th October 2022 - Quinces and October
It’s funny how sometimes it is the simplest of things which can make your day. For me, it was spotting a box containing free quinces outside a house in the village. It has been ages since I have seen quinces, apart from the ornamental type. I think the last time I saw them was a good ten years ago when I purchased a couple from the Cromer Farm Shop (no longer trading) in Cromer. We were off for our afternoon walk so I popped one in each of my two pockets. The following day I was able to thank the lady who had put them outside her home. She was walking her dog on the beach and encouraged me to have as many quinces as I wanted. I now have six, which is plenty for the dishes I plan to cook. The first is a pork with quince casserole which features in my Greek recipe book, The 3R’s – Recipes, Reflections and Reminisces and the other is a beef and quince dish, again Greek and this is from one of Rena Salaman’s books. I remember the first time we came across quinces. We were strolling along a lane on the Greek island of Alonissos; ahead of us a young man on his moped pulled into the side of the road and picked off, what we thought was a rather nice-looking yellow pear. We thought, well, if he can do it so can we, after all they were hanging over the orchard’s fence. As we passed, we grabbed one each and bit into them. Oh, our faces, they were so sour they completely dried our mouths out, definitely not juicy pears, these were quinces. I didn’t scrump anymore but did buy a couple in the main town and at home, after consulting various recipe book, I developed my recipe for Pork with Quinces. I am looking forward to cooking this dish later in the week and then probably Rena Salaman’s recipe next week.
The weather continues to keep giving. I wonder, if it carries on like this for the rest of the month, whether it will be a contender for the warmest October on record. A camera has been a must on our walks. Here are a few of the photos I have taken over the last couple of days, starting with a dead tree which although devoid of life I think is still beautiful in its skeletal form.
This morning, we stood on the cliff top and waited patiently for the sun to rise up out of the sea and through a low band of cloud on the horizon.
And the last is, walking on the cliff top path, across the golf course with the village in sight. October days don’t come much better than this.
