My # 1 All-Time Favorite, Guilt-Free Dessert – Ina Garten’s Roasted Pear and Applesauce – sans the brown sugar
Let’s see, someone important said, “the last shall be first”, so I will start off today with the last item on my title—-
ROASTED PEAR AND APPLESAUCE – Adapted from Ina Garten
3 pounds ripe but firm bosc pears
3 pounds macoun apples
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
the juice and zest of two navel oranges
the juice and zest of one lemon
4 tblsp unsalted butter
Preheat oven to 375F. Peel, core and cut into chunks, the pears and apples. Place in a large LeCreuset dutch oven. Add the zests, juices, spices and butter. Cover and roast in the oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let sit 15 minutes. Mash by hand with a potato masher. This is incredibly fragrant, delicious and satisfying. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!!!!!! If you feel the need, you can enhance this with a dollop of creme fraiche – but, I, for one, think it stands alone perfectly.
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Well, good morning and welcome to 2013! May this be a year of many accomplishments, much learning, continued pursuit of one’s purest passions and FUN, FUN, FUN!
One moment of reflection, if I may. 2012 was a VERY good year for me. I began this little venue of self-expression and found how much writing satisfied something very deep inside of me. And, in the process it has helped me to crystallize my ideas about the future. I have written and “doodled” drawings all my life, had a strong urge to put plants into the ground and marvel at their fruits, dabbled in poetry and tried several other art forms on an elemental level. Somehow I was always in touch, often just by a thread, with my most earthly impulses. I always loved to design clothes, rooms and gardens, had a strong attraction to beautiful furniture, paintings, buildings and sculpture, had jaw dropping experiences in the face of natural beauty and energy, like that of the ocean and the stars. And, I have always had the urge to create in the kitchen.
In the process of beginning this little blog, a great gift has emerged: Two things happened – First, some pivotal memories of the loved ones whose passions have inspired me have become hard-wired into my brain and become of primal focus and direction in my current life. Second, I have found a tremendous determination to go forward purposefully, to do all the things I have always wanted to do. And so, hats off to 2013 – with much hope, I go forward in pursuit of creative expression and immersion in all things I love, hopefully, every day.
Well, sorry if that was a puzzling digression, but, from time to time it is important for me to state something, even if it’s only apparent purpose is to re-focus my writing here. On to the more practical outflows of such revelations. I am so enjoying writing about food, its origins and history, the history of the places it has originated, (yes, they are two different things), the basically limitless variations and expressions of its artform, its preparation, its magical outcomes and the enjoyment of the actual eating of the fruits of this effort.
Today is a day for expressing one’s Resolutions, is it not? This, of course can come in many forms and formats. I am not so focused on a list as in the active form of the word – like the idea of being “resolute” in going forward in one’s chosen direction – as described above. Merriam-Webster defines the word resolute as “marked by firm determination, resolved, bold and steady, decisive, purposeful, resolved…. I think resolute is a good word, it implies focus and determination. Two good words for me for 2013!
And so, this year I will try to:
– do more of what made me happy in 2012: write, photograph, and press the “publish” button – an act which gives me some odd, new sense of creating something of enduring substance as a reflection of my life
– develop lots of new recipes in my own kitchen with ingredients that interest me
– research people, places and things whose expressions in food are tied to my innate passions (right now mostly in western europe
– travel to many new places and return to those whose spirits are now burned into my soul – like Venice
– continue to learn about origins in the food world and practical applications for use in my kitchen today
– take full advantage of the venues right in my backyard which are filled with culinary riches – New York City
– make great and satisfying meals for my friends and family and try not to get fat in the process (HA – I had to get something comical into this picture)
– to continue along with my “antidote theory” – I won’t invest in some folly-like resolution like “don’t ever eat anything bad again”, rather I will try to follow something more reasonable – and so, here is my eating idiom for 2013:
“FOR EVERY “BAD” THING I EAT, I WILL TRY TO EAT, SAY, 5 “GOOD” THINGS”
……this just makes more sense to me……. Happy days ahead to all……..