Pear Scones

I made these this morning for breakfast. They're quick and easy and only use one pear--which makes them great in my book! (I like having pears to eat fresh too!) I found this off of Allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 c. flour
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/3 c. butter, chilled
1 egg
1/2 c. half-and-half
1 chopped pear

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375*.
2. Sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly texture. In separate bowl, whisk together egg and half-and-half. Add to the flour mixture until combined. Stir in pear.
3. On lightly floured surface, turn out dough. Pat down until it's about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. Cut into triangles or rounds and place on ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake until golden brown (about 15 minutes); rest briefly on a cooling rack before serving. Serve with butter and honey or any jam.

Note: Instead of half-and-half, I used evaporated milk, which, by the way, you can make from dry milk by mixing together 2/3 c. with 3/4 c. water. (Makes 1 cup.) I also added chopped walnuts. They were really good!

Honey Lime Fruit Salad

Another winner from Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe, this salad was a perfect compliment to the BBQ chicken and steak we had with a group of friends. I have a hard time with the texture of canned madarin oranges, so I actually opted to use fresh fruit instead of canned. It did make it more expensive, but I didn't mind. To me, there is nothing better than fresh fruit during the summer! Yum!

Honey Lime Fruit Salad

1 (20 oz.) can pineapple chunks, drained well (I used one small fresh pineapple, peeled and diced)

1 can mandarin oranges, drained well (I used 2 fresh oranges, peeled and diced)

2-3 ripe kiwi, peeled and sliced into thick half moons

1 cup green grapes, halved

1 cup strawberries, quartered

Zest from one lime (I also added a squeeze or two of fresh lime juice)

about 1 tablespoon2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon poppy seeds (optional- I left them out)

Combine the fruit in a medium-large serving bowl. Add the lime zest and poppy seeds, if using, and gently toss. Drizzle the honey over the fruit and again, gently mix until the fruit is evenly coated with the honey. Serve.

**Note: This fruit salad is best served right away (or at least within an hour of making) because the strawberries tend to stain the light colored fruit. It doesn't affect the taste at all but is a slight bummer for presentation.

Pistachio Fruit Salad

After I had my second baby, a good friend brought me dinner and as dessert, she made this. It is quite possibly the most delicious fruit salad I have ever had! My absolute favorite part was the tiny pistachios from the pudding mix that are crunchy and almost remind me of toffee bits. I am so glad that I asked her for the recipe because it is something I'll be making again and again. Plus, it is very versatile as you can use whatever fruit you want. I chose to use grapes and oranges, but you could use anything you want. I wanted to put bananas in it, but I knew we would have leftovers and I didn't want them to go brown. I listed the ingredients below, but besides the pudding and whipped topping, it is more of a guideline. So use as much or as little of the fruit and marshmallows that you want.

Pistachio Fruit Salad

1 box of pistachio pudding mix (the 4 serving one)
1 large container of frozen whipped topping, thawed
mini marshmallows, either fruit flavored or regular, as many as desired
around 2 cups chopped fruit, either fresh or canned

Combine pudding mix with whipped topping. Fold in marshmallows and fruit. Chill until ready to serve.