Pear Soup

This is a good autumn soup from the great state of Montana. I made it for a dinner party we had Saturday night one week after Hurricane Sandy, and three days before the election. Making it is quite simple. The cook does need to allow about an hour to cook the barley. The recipe says to soak the barley which is supposed to lessen the cooking time. I did not bother. The barley took the same amount of time  to cook as predicted in the recipe after soaking.
The recipe seemed somewhat  bland to me. I    considered adding curry powder, but was talked out of it by my husband, Bob.  The guests seemed to like it  as is, sans curry powder.
If you cook the barley ahead of time,  it takes about ten minutes to assemble the rest of the soup, and 15 to 20 minutes to simmer it  until the pears are tender.

Pear Soup

1/2 c up pearl barley
lightly salted water
4 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
 2 unripe green pears, peeled, cored and diced
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar

1. Day before, cover the  barley with the water and let soak overnight. Next day, transfer to a saucepan and cook until barley is tender, about one hour. Drain.
2.  Place barley, the  milk and baking soda in a pan and bring to a boil. Add the pears and cook until tender. Add the salt and pepper.
Makes four servings.