Gingered Pear Sauce

 Vegan Month of Food 2017

"Lines and Light"
(a line of original poetry or a photo of light every day for the month of October)

I share my pear trees with the neighborhood deer
They give more than they take

  Day 19: A dish with five ingredients or fewer
(click HERE to see what others are sharing today)

Luscious and unique – that’s how you might describe a pear. Combine it with ginger and you have a flavor combination that’s worthy of the Thanksgiving table. That’s where mine’s going.

Here’s what you need:
Ripe pears
1 T fresh lemon juice
½ t -1 t ground ginger
½ t - 1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla

(notice - no sugar is needed because pears are naturally sweet)

All these pears came from my very own garden -
 the one I share with the neighborhood deer. 

Here’s what you do:
Peel and slice the pears. Simmer them in about ½ C water until very soft. Add the remaining ingredients to taste. The amount of spices depend on the amount of pears you have. Remember – you can always add more, but you can’t remove any…..ginger is spicy, so start with a small amount. Stir and continue to cook for a few minutes. Allow to cool for a while and whirl in a food processor until it’s the perfect consistency. Don’t allow it to become too soft – you don’t want the consistency of baby food! Remember, this glorious sauce is for your Thanksgiving table.

Raspberry and Pear Pie

My local health food store is smack-dab- in the middle between where I live and where I work, which is super convenient.  I find myself there a few times a week – anything I can do to avoid driving to our Walmart or Meijer for just those few forgotten things on the grocery list. Besides, I prefer spending my money in local establishments.

At the checkout counter I always grab a copy of “Delicious Living,” the free magazine on display; you know the type – heavy on the advertisements and light on the substance. Lots of suggestions for vitamin supplements and homeopathic recommendations. For example, here is what they published as 10 ways to “Survive the Holiday Stress.”

1.       Eat hard-boiled eggs

2.       Employ Chinese medicine

3.       Moisturize with aromatherapy

4.       Root for fresh ginger

5.       Prioritize meditation

6.       Shield with vitamin D

7.       Energize with herbals

8.       Shun sugar

9.       Take magnesium at night

10.   Schedule restoration

 My method of dealing with holiday stress? Eat another portion of whatever is being served. Seriously.

The BEST thing about this magazine is the recipes and this pie is an example of an excellent one. It comes from page 30 of the December 2013 edition. (I reduced the sugar. Changes are reflected below.)

Here’s what you need:

Two pie crusts

2-3 pounds ripe pears –peeled and cut in ¾ inch pieces

2 T honey

2 T white grape juice (you might also use orange or apple juice)

Pinch of salt

2 C frozen raspberries

½ t vanilla

¼ C flour

5 T natural cane sugar – divided

1 egg, beaten

1 T milk

Here’s what you do:

Prepare the bottom crust by fitting it in a 9-inch pie plate. Fold the extra edges under and crimp them decoratively. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until golden. Note: check the crust from time to time to see if any of the soft edges have slumped over. If they do, just take a wooden spoon and reshape the crust, kinda sticking the semi-raw dough back on to the pie plate.

Meanwhile: combine the pears, honey, juice and salt in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat for no longer than 5 minutes. You do not want mushy fruit! Just soften it a bit. Transfer pears to a bowl to cool a bit. Add the raspberries, vanilla, flour, and 4 T sugar. Blend gently. Pour fruit into warm pie crust. Roll out top crust and carefully place over fruit. Decoratively crimp the edges being careful because the pie plate is now hot. Create an egg wash by whisking the egg and milk together. Brush this over the top crust and then sprinkle the remaining 1 T sugar over.

Continue baking for another 60 minutes – covering the edges with foil after 30 minutes have passed. Crust should be brown and filling should be bubbly.

(printable recipe)

Pear Frangipane Tart

V is for Variety and I is for INA - vs - ISA 

Welcome to the Vegan Month of Food (VeganMoFo)  I intend to post 20 times during the month of September – all about vegan food. Check out the gals who organize the project here, and search out other fantastic vegan bloggers. I decided on the theme of “V is for Variety” because, honestly, once I quit the chicken breast – my food choices exploded! Join me!

I am literally sitting in my comfy chair watching Ina Garten on my DVR making a huge dessert for Jeffrey – 6 egg yolks, 1 C heavy cream, billions of sticks of butter. I am sure it tastes great, but with those ingredients, you can only eat a tablespoon before you reach your quota of fat… and my god… shouldn't we consider that cholesterol level for at least a mili-second? Come on, Ina!  

I am also literally sitting in my comfy chair going through my photos and drooling over this BEAUTIFUL pear frangipane tart from IsaChandra (Post Punk Kitchen). No butter. No eggs. No cholesterol. No guilt. Totally 100% VEGAN and incredibly awesome.  I literally made it twice last week with pears from my backyard tree. How cool is that? Go right ....HERE.... to see the recipe and literally, do NOT change a single thing....literally. 

(I also just literally knocked over an entire bottle of beer on my husband…. but that’s another blog post.)