Cheese pear tart

Oven temp = 375

Cheese pear tart:
1 basic pie crust
4 ripe pears
8oz cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1 cup milk

Peel and core the pears and then slice very thin. Thinly slice the cheddar cheese (other cheeses would also work with this, but I chose a medium-sharp cheddar). Arrange the pear slices and cheese slices in the pie crust, starting with a layer of pears and then alternating with cheese. Whisk together the egg and milk and pour over the pears and cheese in the pie crust. Bake at 375 deg for at least an hour, until the egg mixture is set. (This may take longer than an hour to bake.)

Ricotta muffins

Original recipe from: smittenkitchen
Oven temp = 350

Ricotta muffins
1/2 cup (2 ounces) walnuts or pecans
2 tsp fennel seeds
3 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbs plus 1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup (4 ounces) ricotta cheese
6 Tbs sour cream

Toast nuts on a baking sheet in oven for about 10 minutes. Chop when cooled. In a saute pan, toast fennel seeds for a few minutes until fragrant. Grind fennel seeds in a spice grinder.

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ground fennel seeds, yogurt and oil. Pipe a small layer of the muffin batter into the bottom of the greased muffin/cupcake tins using either an icing piping bag or a plastic baggie with the corner cut off -- this should fill about 1/3 of each well.

Mix the ricotta cheese and sour cream together and spoon a heaping teaspoon into each 1/3 filled muffin well. Pipe another layer of muffin batter over the top of the ricotta filling, making sure to completely cover the filling with batter. These muffins will rise significantly, so avoid overfilling the muffin tins. Sprinkle the toasted and chopped nuts over the top of the muffins and bake at 350 degrees for about 28 minutes until lightly browned.

Parmesean meatballs

Recipe from Jenn Hardee, who found it in a cooking magazine somewhere.
Oven temp = 350

Meatballs:
2 lb ground beef
3 eggs
1.5 c dry bread crumbs
½ c milk
2/3 c parmesan
¼ c minced parsley
¼ c minced basil
1.5 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne

Roll into balls. Simmer in marinara sauce 1 hr or cook covered in oven
at 350.

I put a glob of goat cheese into the middle of each meatball. It was a little extra work, but a lot of extra delicious!