Country Pear Tart

Anjou Pear (My tot's favorite & what I used!)

I think a lot of people's fears this past weekend of "Irene", beside the actual hurricane damage were, like mine of spoiled food from electricity outages from the storm. In our household, we did not go overboard on perishables, living off the few fresh items we had just in case. And we had the one "emergency frozen people" stored in our freezer. If we did have a power outage, food-wise we would not have thrown out much. But we were blessed & kept our power & health. I am thankful, very thankful. There were 4 overly ride, large pears crying to be used though & I answered them! This country tart is delicious. I made my own crust but it is just as good with a pre-made one. What makes it in my opinion is the candied ginger. If you have not used candied ginger for baking, do! It's a perfect addition to take something from yummy to amazing!

Somehow, with one of the power surges we did have, I lost any photos I took. Please for give me! I will make this again very soon & post pictures. But sometimes, your imagination is better than a picture ;) Enjoy & take care!!! 

Country Pear Tart

Adapted eons ago from a Betty Crocker Recipe

• Pre-made, Refrigerated Pie Crust or your own

Filling

• 3 cups thinly sliced peeled pears
• 1 TBSp Lemon juice
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 TBSp AP flour
• 1/4 tsp ginger

Topping

• 1/4 cup all-AP flour
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 TBSp butter
• 1tsp milk
• 1TBSp sugar 

• 2 TBSP candied Ginger, chopped
• 2 TBSp sliced almonds

Egg Wash to brush crust~ egg & water

Pre-heat oven to 425°. Prep a pie baking dish or tart pan.

Place the round crust on the pie dish allowing the sides of the circular dough to lightly “flop” around the sides of the pie dish.

In large bowl, combine all filling ingredients & toss to coat. Spoon filling flatly onto crust.

In small bowl, combine 1/4 cup flour, brown sugar & butter~ mix well. Sprinkle mixture over filling. Take “flopped sides” & fold these edges of the crust over the filling, creating a “pleated look” by hand (with your pointer & middle fingers) of the crust to fit & leaving about 5 to 6 inches in center uncovered. Brush crust with egg wash & then sprinkle with 1 TBSp sugar.

Bake at 425°F. for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Sprinkle candied ginger & almonds over filling. Bake at 350°F. for an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until edges are deep golden brown and fruit is tender.

Immediately loosen tart sides with a spatula & place on wire rack. Cool 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool.

<3 Lishie

Pear Muffins!

I felt like baking tonight since we had pizza (cheese for Lent) with my in-laws & it's the weekend! Woohoo! The bananas are still not ripe enough to bake with (I owe a special someone a banana bread very soon!) Gabriel loves pears & doesn't like sweets so I thought, hmmmmmmmm... I know the perfect thing for my baby:

Yummy, home-baked pear goodness

Pear Muffins
Yields 2 & 1/2 dozen 

• 2 cups flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 TBSp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1/2 cup butter, pieced, cold
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 1/2 cup apple sauce*
• 3/4 cup milk (I used skim)
• 1 pear- ripe, skinned, cored & diced into small pieces (about 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 400 F.


Prepare muffin tins with paper liners.


In a large bowl, sift together/combine the flour, sugar, baking powder & salt. Add the chopped, cold butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender until the flour is lumpy/grainy.


Fold the eggs, apple sauce, milk & pears into the dry mixture. 


Scoop (I use a medium-sized ice cream scoop) batter into each paper-lined tin (about 2/3 full) . Bake approximately 15-20 minutes, until the tops are slightly golden & a toothpick inserted into the middle of one muffin comes out clean & dry.


Remove from oven & let cool 10 minutes before taking out of the muffin tins... Then allow to cool further on a wire wrack.

Cool muffins

*Lishie tips- If you do not have a pastry blender, no fears! Just use a fork. Most recipes will tell you to use two knives instead but one fork is enough & way easier!

Make sure the butter & milk are cold & the pear is ripe... Also, you can substitute either plain yogurt or sour cream for the apple sauce. Additions (insert in the recipe at the same time as the pear) can be: 1/4 cup nuts (walnuts) or 1/4 cup raisins, even craisins or dried cranberries! And for the pear, you can switch it out with apple... Of course you'd have to call them "Apple Muffins" then! LOL

BTW- Do YOU know the Muffin Man? (Caution- music! :) )

Smoothie Time!

Well, just when isn't it smoothie time?! I love smoothies for Gabriel, my toddler, as much as I love them myself. They are great snacks & very filling! Plus they are super healthy with fresh fruit & ingredients. And did I mention oh so versatile?!? You can use any combination of fruit (but keep in mind that a banana as a "base" provides for a good, smooth texture). You can also use any kind of milk- from skim to whole, almond, or soy or even frozen yogurt or ice cream! (YUM)... And get creative with fresh herbs, etc... And to change the texture or make it colder, slushier, just add ice!

If you have a picky tot, make a healthy smoothie &, in a pinch, sub. as a meal. If you pack it with fruit & calcium, your little one is set to go!

This was Gabriel's "choice" this morning:

Banana & Pear Smoothie
1 banana, sliced
1 pear, peeled & sliced
3/4 cup plain (or vanilla) yogurt
1 cup milk (I use whole, organic)
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract (omit if using vanilla yogurt)

Place all of the ingredients in the blender & puree until smooth.

Mama's choice*:
Banana-Ginger Smoothie

1 banana, sliced

3/4 cup plain (or vanilla) yogurt

1/4 tsp Vanilla extract (omit if using vanilla yogurt)

1 TBSp Honey

1 tsp freshly grated Ginger

Place all of the ingredients in the blender & puree until smooth. 

Enjoy!

*Lishie Tip: The banana/ginger combo is a natural antacid & digestion helper.