I am thankful for YOU. That’s right, YOU. I love your comments. I love your love. I love it when you tweet me or post pictures on my Facebook page of a recipe you’ve made from my website. You brighten my day and you keep me going. You make my life happy. THANK YOU!
There are other things in my life that I am thankful for. First! I am thankful for my camera phone which allows me to take pictures of what I am thankful for. Here we go!
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Here we are, two days away from Thanksgiving. TWO DAYS. Truth be told, I haven’t given much thought to what I’m making this year because I’m living in a place called DENIAL right now.
What I do know is that I’ll be making a scrumptious sweet potato puree with pecans that I’ve never posted before cuz I always make it last minute and never have enough time to photograph it. Maybe one year I’ll get around to it. This year I’ve been given the responsibility of making a fancy dessert and I’m thinking this Pear Cranberry Crumble might fit the bill! My mom always makes a traditional pumpkin pie but we always like something new and different to serve with it.
If you’re waiting til the last minute like me, let me throw you a life raft. I’ve got a few ideas for you!
MOIST. Does that word make you cringe? Sorry about that. It looks especially bad when it’s in CAPS, huh?
The word MOIST doesn’t bother me for some reason. I do, however, cringe at the words ointment and discharge but that’s a completely different blog post altogether. To cater to the moist haters, I tried searching on the Google machine for some synonyms and what I found just doesn’t cut it.
I wouldn’t call this Pear Cranberry Walnut Bread humid, drizzly, soggy, misty, mushy or clammy. It’s just dense, sturdy and moist- everything I like in a sweet breakfast/snack bread.
Sweet pears make up most of the liquid base. Cranberries add a little tartness and a pop of color. Walnuts provide good crunch and the lemon zest adds a little perfume into the bread. It’s no surprise that a loaf didn’t last 24 hours in the Shutterbean household.
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A food related photo everyday until 2012. Here’s week 45:
319/365 Making a pear cranberry walnut something rather.
But Wait! There’s more!
This week on High Straightenence I show you what a great pile maker I am! That’s right. Don’t believe the hype, things aren’t as perfect as they seem at my house. I’m a magnet for clutter.
Stay tuned for the new episode of the Joy the Baker Podcast. It will be out tomorrow!
Happy Weekend, friends!
In the world of beverages, this hot vanilla cider is as versatile as a little black dress. Serve it at a child’s holiday party or a wintry baby shower and you have yourself a guaranteed hit. Fill up a thermos and instantly enhance your Christmas tree purchasing experience. Add whipped cream on top and you’ll make an incredible liquid dessert. Spike your vanilla cider with bourbon and suddenly your little black dress turns frisky!
The problem with the frisky/boozy side of this drink is that it goes down too easy. I’m just gonna put that out there for your interpretation. I stopped at 1.5 drinks because I totally know my limits; I’m like a grownup or something.
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PREP TIME: 15 min.
COOK TIME: 40-45 min.
What did I during the 40-45 minutes of cook time? A LOT.
After putting the custard pie into the oven and setting the timer, I cleaned up the kitchen, gathered laundry piles, sorted laundry piles and then put a load of laundry in the washer. I ran upstairs, checked my email, glanced at my phone, wrote 2 emails, read my horoscope, checked my online bank statement, sent a silly text message, checked my email again and ran downstairs. I proceeded to squeeze my cats, then I picked up a rogue sock off the floor, placed that sock in the hamper, grabbed a glass of water, glanced at the timer, checked out my eyebrows in the mirror, got the mail and then ran back into the kitchen. I laid a nice tea towel down in preparation for the pie, grabbed a few forks, and realized there was an entire surface of counter that I missed in my cleaning up process and then I waited.
The pie came out of the oven and I stared at it impatiently. I went into my kitchen cabinet and grabbed some confectioner’s sugar, brought it over to the sink to load up my little strainer and proceeded to spill some sugar all over myself and the counter (I always do this!). I dusted the top with confectioner’s sugar then I dove into the pie and totally messed up the first slice. Oh well. I stood on a chair to take a few shots then I almost fell but luckily I braced myself. I stepped down from the chair and quickly ate the messed up slice. Realizing that my husband would want some, I scooped out a slice and walked over to him happily sharing what I just made.
Not only was this pie a perfectly comforting treat on a chilly afternoon, it was so light and fluffy with just the right amount of sweetness. The pears were incredibly tender! I heard his fork hit the plate a few times and then I heard a slight thud of the plate on the table. I looked over to see that he had stopped. He looked at me apologetically because he didn’t want to finish. Then I remembered that he doesn’t like custard based desserts. Sad trombone. How could I possibly be mad when the prep time was so short? Look at all I accomplished during that cook time. I guess that means more for me, right? At least he ate two bites.
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