Pear Wafers and Cheese

Invite guests in to toast Fall and serve this delicious appetizer. It's unusal and fun and more nutritious than ordinary crackers. And not only does this novel hors o'euvres tastes delicious, it brings a welcoming aroma throughout your whole house. Inviting and delicious. But first, before you dive right into the preparation of these pear wafers, there are two special types of equipment you MUST have. If you don't have a mandoline for slicing pears very thinly, pick one up at the grocery store for under $10. Now, if you're really into thin slices, you can spend megabucks on one of these in a specialty store. The choice is yours, but you have to have THIN slices of pears. And the next thing you need is a pair of Silpat liners for your baking sheets. These are from France, available at a specialty store, and a must-have for this recipe. Parchment won't do. It's Silpat or don't even try this. The pear slices will stick to anything else. Trust me on that one. The liners are expensive but can be used over and over for baking cookies, candies, and all sorts of things and, in my opinion, are definitely worth the investment.

Okay, once you have the right stuff, you're ready to go... Preheat your oven to 225 degrees. In a small sauce pan, heat 1/2 cup of water, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 Tbls. lemon juice. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside. Slice the unpeeled pears (your choice of good pears, firm, but not too firm) paper thin. Just run it right over the mandoline blade and when you get to the middle of the pear, your slices will contain a slice of the pear stem (those are my favorites!). Dip each slice in sugar water, shake off excess water, and place in a single later, untouching, on the Silpat liner. Place in the oven and bake for 4 hours. Store in a tin to retain the crispness.

Before baking...

After baking... I serve pear wafers with Boursin Cheese Spread. It's a mild, peppery cheese that is easily found in the specialty cheese section of your favorite grocery store. If you can't find it, here's a quick and simple recipe: 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened, 4 ounces farmers cheese, 2 large cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup finely minced chives, 1/2 cup finely minced parsley, lots of freshly ground pepper, salt to taste. Mash garlic and add to chives and parsley. Mix with cheeses in a mixer. Season with a little salt and alot of pepper. Chill. Bring to room temperature for serving.

Pumpkin Charlotte

Here's the recipe I promised when I posted last. It's the easiest and tastiest recipe I make for the Fall. I think you'll love it.

Pumpkin Charlotte

2 3-oz. pkgs. (24 total) ladyfingers*, split
2 cups whipping cream
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 4-serving-size pkgs. instant vanilla pudding
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 15-oz. can pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup milk

Chill a mixing bowl and beaters. For the crust, line the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan with the ladyfingers, cutting to fill all spaces. trim bottoms of the remaining ladyfingers slightly to stand in the pan, then place them, round side out, against the inside of the pan. Set aside.

Cream cheese filling:
In the chilled bowl, beat 1-3/4 cups whipping cream and powdered sugar till soft peaks form; reserve 1/2 cup. Beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar till combined. Fold into the whipping cream mixture.

Pumpking filling:
Stir together pudding mixes, cinnamon, ginger, and pie spice. Add pumpkin and milk; beat till thick. Fold in reserved 1/2 cup whipped cream.

Spread the cream cheese filling evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Carefully spread the pumpkin layer over that. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

To serve, remove sides from the pan, place charlotte on a platter. Beat remaining 1/4 cup whipping cream to soft peaks (add additional powdered sugar to taste) and spoon on top. If desired sprinkle with additional pumpkin pie spice. (I sprinkle with a few chopped pecans or walnuts.)

*ladyfingers are finger-shaped sponge cake found in the produce section or in the freezer section at the grocery store. (Do not use the crisp, cookie like ladyfingers.)

Enjoy!

Putting Out the Pumpkins

It's time for Fall touches and I usually put those out the first of September. Huffing and puffing and sweating the whole time, just knowing that fall weather will kick in at any minute. Well, looking at pumpkins at least makes me feel a tiny bit cooler in this hot and humid spot in South Texas. There's really not much difference in the temperature between August and September down here, but it's just the idea that August is gone!


I fringed this table cover just a bit more so that's it's smaller. I like this look better. I decided to keep the light colored one where it was and put the black one on the kitchen table. The girls were coming over for dessert and cards, so I had the right incentive to get it all done.


This 3-tiered stand on the kitchen counter is something I bought back in April. It's big and holds lots of stuff. I decided to fill it with gourds and fall-colored fruit. I had to promise St. Wayne an apple pie when the Granny Smith's start to look bad. But for now, I like the bright colors mixed in. There's even a little bottle with three white roses on the top tier, but because I'm not the best photographer, you probably can't tell.


For the kitchen table, I bought an orange, pumpkin-shaped basket and placed white roses in it. Filled an old wooden dough bowl with tiny pumpkin-shaped potpourri for fragrance, added a candle and a few gourds, and called it a day. Whatever is on the kitchen table has to be simple and self-contained so it can be moved...either for a quick card game or those rare dinners at the table.

The dessert you see in the last picture is a Pumpkin Charlotte. It's an easy, no-bake, impressive dessert. Looks like you've worked for days on it...and that's my kind of recipe. I'll share it in my next post. I also have an easy and very unusual hors doeuvres that is fun to make. And not only is it tasty but it makes your whole house smell like Fall...

Until next time...