dinner at home

So last night we had our friends over for dinner, a not so Italian dinner, Mr. D had helped me to set up the table, it looks so nice.  Warm and very welcome, love the snowman's napkin, good job Mr. D!!!!Oh mind, I didn't snap any pictures of the dishes that I had prepared except the cakes...Anyway we had our antipasto with sushi and artichokes pasqualina,  first course udon noodle with black soya sauce and seafood, main course I had prepared two meat dishes i.e. stewed spared ribs with beer and meat curry, my friend Stefano and Antonella brought me the spices from Turkey, hot steamed basmati rice, and, of course, the two cakes that I had prepared and pasticini from Romina and Costantino to complete our dinner.

Here is the recipe for Pear cake (ciambella deliziosa)

125g            butter at room temperature
1 tbsp each  butter and brown sugar  (for cooking the pears)  
130g            brown sugar
3                  medium size pears
2                  large eggs
175g            flour
1 1/2 tsp      baking powder
60ml            milk
a pinch of salt
one grated lemon rind

Preparation
Preheat oven at 180°C.  Peel and core pears and reduce them in small pieces.  Use a non-stick frying pan and soften (not mushy) them with a tablespoon of butter and sugar.  Beat brown sugar and butter until pale then add one egg at a time, slowing add in baking powder, lemon rind, sifted flour divided in 3 portions and mix delicately after each portion of the flour.  Now take half of the cooked pear and distribute in a 23cm round cake tin which you have rubbed with butter and sprinkled with some flour, and the rest of the pear in the mixture and give it a nice stir.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Let it cool and sprinkle some icing sugar on top.  Enjoy.