The elusive quince and the Judy bird

All fall, I've been eagerly anticipating finding quinces in my local markets. One of my favorite party snacks is manchego (a Spanish sheep's milk cheese) with membrillo, and I've been wanting to make that quince paste for the holiday season. The doctor and I thought we'd found a quince tree in Sonoma (much to our amusement it was later identified by our friend Paul as a buckeye tree), which made me realize I'd never actually seen a quince in person even though I'd eaten the cooked fruit and enjoyed it greatly. (Ironic given my family connections to Latin America and Iran.) I felt like I was on some kind of treasure hunt as I looked in every major supermarket and a couple of farmers' markets for the yellow-skinned fruit, until I finally found a boatload of organic quinces at the lovely Bi-Rite Market (where the checkout guy laconically informed me, "yeah, we've got 'em every fall").

I cooked up 4 lbs of the fruit and promptly packed a care package for our jaunt to Florida for Thanksgiving. The membrillo accompanied a bag full of other preserves, gifts for my relatives, who are still bemused (and sometimes stunned) when they receive various preserves and chutneys. The membrillo turned out well, although next year I'll be experimenting with lowering the sugar. Strangely, the quince turned out to be anti-climactic compared to cooking a Thanksgiving turkey for 10 people, which was my job this year (keep in mind this is for my relatives, who are a discerning - read picky! - bunch of mostly Southerners, and they know their turkey!). I chose to do a brined turkey, but at the last minute found a new recipe for a dry brined turkey, the Judy Bird (named after its originator, Judy Rodgers of the Zuni Cafe, one of my favorite restaurants in SF). Luckily for me, it came out well (although we did have a back-up ham in place), and was delicious! I'll be cooking that one again.

Happy Thanksgiving one and all!