Quince Season came early this year

Well so much for thinking I had a few more weeks before quince season got underway.  Aunty of Himself rang me to let me know that a huge wind had knocked a branch off her quince tree and she had quinces all over the place.  I couldn't say no to them so I have about 40 kilos of unripe quinces (and more to come when the rest of them are ripe) from her, in addition to the fruit from my own huge quince tree.  I took a large bag of quinces to the local craft ladies who I paint with.  They grew up in the era when everyone had fruit trees in their back yards (unlike some urban kids today who think fruit grows in plastic bags at the supermarket).  They are all accomplished quince cookers and happily took a few kilos off my hands.  I then got the slow cooker out and made some poached quinces.  These are lovely to eat straight out of the pot or you could use the poached quinces to make some quince muffins or a quince Tarte Tatin.  These recipes are very easy -  the hardest part is cutting through the quinces.   If you don't own a slow cooker you can use a saucepan on your cooktop for poaching (which would take ).  

If you would like some quinces, let me know and we can try to get some to you (sorry offer only available to residents of metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia).  I would also be very interested in your recipes for quinces.

I will be experimenting with slow cooked quince paste rather than my usual method of using a saucepan on the stove top.  I will post about the results of this in a few weeks time.

Ciao for now