We just returned from the annual Great Harvest convention this last week.  It was in beautiful, warm San Diego.  We just didn’t see the warm part:)  Most of the time we were there, there was a winter storm warming.  The weather was cold, and rainy, but still, California is always warmer than Utah no matter how you cut it.

Jimmy wore his puffy coat to the airport, and planned to just pack it up in his bag for the rest of the trip.  Let me tell you, that coat caused many folks to turn green with envy.  Including me.  (can you see he has it on in almost every picture.)  I had a couple of sweaters.  Convention halls are always cold, but I wasn’t dressed warm enough.  I wished I had taken some tights, my puffy coat, some tall boots.  You know, regular Utah gear.

The hotel we stayed in was amazing.  The Hotel Del Coronado.  We had a newly remodeled room and it was just spectacular.  Conventions are kind of like family reunions to us now.  We get to see all our bread friends.  Folks from the East Coast, West Coast, Utah, Idaho, Montana and every other state.  It’s fun.  The crowd is cheerful, and we talk about way to much bread.  Ideas get stirring in my mind and it’s always a good time to think about what we can do better at the bakery.

We headed to San Diego a few days early and the first meal I ate has been stuck in my mind ever since.  I’ve been figuring how I could make it at home, and really it’s not a hard recipe.  My meal was a simple spinach and pear salad with a honey mustard vinaigrette.  Simple enough, but the pear!  Oh my lovely pear!  It was sooo good.  The salad came out with kind of an ugly looking pear, I thought, until I tasted it.  It had been roasted and chilled, and I don’t think I’ve tasted anything that yummy for a while.   Ultra sweet and it just made the whole salad.

So today I decided to doll up my morning mush with some roasted pears.  It was delish!  Can I just say I am a believer of roasting.  I’ve known for years that roasting veggies is the only way to go, but now I’ve moved on to fruit as well.  This would be wonderful with apples as well and probably some peaches or plums, but the pears are spectacular.  Today I made a big bowl of Quinoa (keen-wah) and loaded it with roasted pears and cinnamon.  Breakfast of champions for sure.  Next I’m going to recreate the salad I had at the Hotel Del and then I’m just going to eat a whole pan of pears for dessert.  Oh now that would be yummy!  Roasted pears with ice cream and spiced nuts.  I hate diets!