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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