Poached Pears in Raspberry Sauce
Pears
(This is for 4 pears, so multiply accordingly. One pear per person. This works best with firm, under-ripe pears.)

1. Peel the pears and slice a little off of their bases so they sit up straight.
2. Boil enough water to cover them, with 1/4 cup sugar in there. Add pears and simmer 20-25 minutes or until a fork easily pierces them. Set aside and cool.

Sauce

In blender, combine:
- 1 package frozen raspberries in syrup (10 oz. package), thawed. (If you can't find them in syrup, add a little extra sugar.)
- Juice of half a lemon (or 1 teaspoon lemon juice concentrate)
- ¼ to ½ cup sugar, to taste
- 2 teaspoons Framboise, Cointreau, or other fruity liqueur.

Mess with the sauce until it's sweet but also tangy, with no bitter aftertaste. Pour over pears and serve. Garnish with extra sugared orangette if you have one handy, but the pears impress on their own.

Happy New Year to all of you! Thank you for reading, and I wish you all the best. xo, Mouse

Report card on last year's New Year's Resolutions:

1. Live closer to my own desire, doing some things I want rather than only things I should: B+

2. Do something every day that makes my heart race (strictly speaking, this has to do with going to the gym, but I think kissing Boyfriend probably counts): A-

3. Write letters to people I miss: B

4. Be kind, flexible, patient, and humble: B

5. Calm the eff down: B-

6. Have lots of yoga and tea and naps: F (But this was stupid. I hate naps. No naps.)

7. Try new things. Lots of them: A+ (ha)

8. Build shelves in closet: (F)

9. Be a good friend: (A, I hope)

10. Wear nighties sometimes: (F. Once in the last year. Poor He-Mouse, I steal all his boxers.)

11. Grow something, cook something, and make something interesting every month: (A- for effort.)

Menu of traditional lucky foods for New Year's Eve at our house:

Prosciutto-wrapped pork roast (for rooting forward, like a pig)
Greens (collard, mustard, turnip, etc, to represent prosperity*)
Pickled black-eyed peas, a.k.a. Texas Caviar (so we have enough next year**)
Cornbread (um, because I like it, and because, um, it's yellow?)
Macaroni and cheese (see above)***
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Poached pears with raspberry sauce (will share this recipe tomorrow or next week)
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Orangettes
Olives
(sweet, salty)

Want to come over?

* They're supposed to look like folded money. I don't see it.
** This is some sort of Civil War thing having to do with peas being the only thing to survive Sherman's march or something. And then they only had peas. Or something. Anyway, this recipe makes them zippy so they do not, as my stepdad used to say, "taste like dirt."
*** I am SO BUMMED that I didn't know about truffle cheese before doing the shopping for this dinner. Oh well, Celia, next time!

Hee hee.

Okay: SQUEAK. This is my favorite of all the tiny cottages in all the land. First, it is in Montana, one of my favorite places (immense horizons, woods, bears, art, air, space, driving fast).
Second, it looks like THIS. And finally, it is a writer's retreat. Tucson has been lovely, but I would like to go to this cabin for a few weeks. I will hole up, write things, cook smoky bacon, sleep deep and silent, and shake off the holiday crowds.

(From The Wall Street Journal, via Tiny House Blog. Photos by Janie Osbourne.)