I am super-amped about Thanksgiving, if you couldn't tell already. I think about it about ten times a day. I am way too excited, I think. I need to calm the F DOWN. Why am I so excited? Well, I think maybe it's because I get to have two Thanksgiving dinners this year. The first one will be with my family, and the second dinner will be shared with Eric's family.
I'm really curious about other Thanksgivings, and how ours compares. I only know ours! I've only had Thanksgiving at my family's house. What do other people eat? Is is the same? Is it different?
If I came to your Thanksgiving, what would I find on your table that I would be surprised or curious about?
We always have this cranberry salad, and I think I've talked about it before. Yup, I have. It's really weird, and I used to LOVE it, but as the years go by, I grow less and less fond of it. It contains cranberries, sugar, pineapple, whipped cream, pecans and, uh, mini marshmallows. We really like mini marshmallows around here.
I think I could update this salad and make it more gourmet and delicious, but I don't think my mom will let me because I might screw it up.
Just give me a chance, mom. Just give me a chance.
Whenever I think of cranberries I think of this salad and Thanksgiving. The first time I ever used cranberries was in making it. I remember helping my mom make the salad one year and accidentally doubling up on the sugar. Oops.
It's funny how food can trigger a lot of memories. When I think of gingersnaps, I definitely think of the holidays, and how my grandpa would bring a big bag of gingersnaps to our house when he and grandma visited.
Gosh, I miss grandpa. Ugh. Because of him I appreciate Lincolns, classical music, fireplaces, and Robert Frost.
Cranberries and gingersnaps make me think of the holidays, and I wanted to incorporate them together into a dessert, but I also wanted to use pear because I haven't used any this year.
So this is a spiced pear & cranberry crisp, topped with gingersnaps, oats, brown sugar, flour, walnuts and butter.
It's delicious and a snap *wink* to make.
Printable Recipe
3 large pears, peeled, cored, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1 cup coarsely chopped gingersnaps
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, stir together pear, orange juice, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, ginger and cranberries until combined; place into cake pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together gingersnaps, oats, brown sugar, flour, walnuts and salt until well combined; knead in butter, using fingertips, until mixture starts to clump together. Evenly sprinkle over pears.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Reduce heat to 350 and bake an additional 10-15 minutes (covering with foil if it browns too quickly), or until pears are tender. Cool on a wire rack.
Makes 6 servings
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27 comments:
This would be a "snap" to make Emily and so heartwarming too. What would I have at my thanksgiving dinner that others might not? Boursin mashed potatoes, and my new sweet potato and wild rice dressing:D
You probably wouldn't be too surprised - we make a traditional Thanksgiving feast. My mom does all the cooking while I do all the baking :)
Fabulous crisp recipe!
gingersnaps are the perfect cookie to crumble for this crisp. here's to sweet memories of your grandpa, emily. :)
When I was growing up, we had a salad, if you could call it a salad, of chopped apples, oranges, bananas, shredded coconut, walnuts, and maraschino cherries,all mixed together with cool whip. It has not been on our table for years, although just talking about it gives me a weird craving.
What are you bringing to Eric's family Thanksgiving? Surely a pie or some decadent cookies??
I have never had a Thanksgiving in my family - it's not relevant in France. So I came up with a couple of ideas when I celebrate here. It's fun to see a gazillion recipes pop up on blogs that get me to imagine other people's Thanksgivings :)
Thanksgivings in my family used to be fun. Notice I said used to. Grandparents have died and traditions have faded away. Makes me sad. I'm sure new ones will be formed as my brothers and I get married and have children but the years in between are awkward. We used to get together with my dad's huge family (he has 7 brothers and sisters) but right now we just meet at my mother's house with my one remaining Grandpa. It's like any other night were we get together for dinner except we eat turkey and theres entirely too much food. Blah. I wish I was looking forward to it more.
okay now that I've depressed us both (sorry!) I'm glad you're so excited for the holiday!! Your crisp looks super yummy!!! Have a great Thanksgiving!!
These flavor combinations sound phenomenal! I was trying to think of some sort of crisp to make with a gingersnap topping...I think you beat me to it. ;-) Pears tend to get the short-shrift during apple season but they are just as versatile for delicious fruit desserts.
Yum, this sounds great! I love pears and cranberries. If you came to our Thanksgiving, I don't think you'd find anything unusual. A few years ago, I went over to a friends house for Thanksgiving (her mom is Korean) and we had authentic Korean food, plus some normal Thanksgiving food...it was awesome!
oooo great new recipe!!! I love the gingersnaps in it!!
Another great healthy recipe. Those ladies totally rubbed off on you!
I'd give anything to sit in on your Thanksgiving with all those yummy desserts flying around. At my aunt's house growing up we always had a smattering of traditional Thanksgiving dishes sitting alongside things like lumpia (egg rolls), noodles and other Asian delights, haha.
Delicious! Hmmmmm what would you find weird on my families Thanksgiving table. Well at my boyfriends family you would probably find raviolis (one will contain a penny inside the ravioli and whoever finds it will have good luck) and at my families thanksgiving you will always find pistachio ambrosia salad...yum!
That crisp looks perfect for thanksgiving! Hope you have a good time at both celebrations
You'd find pecan pie at our house. I was going to ask--every time I make a pecan pie, it takes forever to cook. Any tips or no-fail recipes?
I've been waiting for cranberries ot go on "buy one get one" sale. Then I'm stocking up and baking like crazy! Just added this to the list of cranberry loaded recipes to make!
~ingrid
Yum! I usually just make an oatmeal crisp topping, I am so into using gingersnaps for my next crisp.
Wow, Emily!! You and your refined desserts!! It feels as Christmas in a glass!
MMMMMMMMMMMM,...what a lovely combo of delightful flavours!
MMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!
What a super crisp recipe, Emily! Pears and cranberries would be delicious together. Besides, I love crisps!
I laughed when you told your family story about the salad (and mini marshmallows). My mother (and grandmother) always served a frozen fruit salad at holdiays- similar to yours except it had pinapple and cherries in it too. They are gone now and what has amazed me is my children continue to demand that salad- even though they used to make fun of it. Old traditions are impossible to break!
Great job with this treat! So many of my favorites in one place! Thanksgiving this year will be myself, kids and husband here at home. Kinda quiet and kinda nice! (granted it is never quiet with a 2 and 6 year old running around!)
Your mom should definitely trust you. In fact, I would happily let you make the entire Thanksgiving day feast at our house.
Robert Frost is my favorite poet. :)
this crisp looks amazing- I'm having a small obsession with crisps right now, they are just so easy to make and they always end up delicious!!! You would probably be surprised to see oyster dressing on our Thanksgiving table- as far as I know it's a New Orleans thing but we've always had it and it is absolutely delicious!
That recipe looks so yummy!!!!
xoxox
I love crisps, and I love pears. Never made a pear crisp though. We had a yummy lime jello and pear "salad" for T-Day when I was a child. I would never make it for a holiday now, but I should for a nice other meal.
In my early married years we would share T-Day with my sisters family and they always had red cabbage (German sweet-sour) salad.
Now we just eat yummy normal stuff, although it is my son-in-laws b-day this year so we must add cake to the list which I think is an odd nontraditional addition.
I have been on a Thanksgiving countdown since September! I am so pumped. I'll be having 3 Thanksgivings this year. The first will be with my in-laws, the second with my mom, and the last is the one I'm cooking up. I feel the need to cook my own Thanksgiving meal because in Hispanic culture (at least in my experience) it's really popular to serve the turkey with rice and beans. Not cool! Haha
I love the gingernaps in this crisp. Perfect for the holiday season!
The crisp sounds delish. I never would have thought to put gingersnaps in the crumb topping.
Happy Thanksgiving Dinner Preparing!
What fabulous flavours! Love pear and ginger in anything.
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