A Crisp for Pears...? YES.

Hello all! I hope that everyone on the East Coast is getting back into the swing of things after Hurricane Sandy last weekend; my heart goes out to those directly affected by it, and I'm praying for all of you!

Since we are in the season of fall, and on the cusp of winter, I figured that a nice warm dessert is in order; usually, this crisp is made with apples, but surprisingly it's actually better with pears! Just to make things a little more interesting, I also added a drizzle of caramel on top and it turned out AMAZINGLY! (Gotta love when a plan comes together :-) ) This dessert is seriously easy; you can easily substitute apples, peaches, or whatever fruit you desire for the pears (the decision on whether or not to add the caramel is completely your call). I will feature apples in a later segment, and will make a twist on the typical apple crisp then, so I won't cover the history of the recipe this time. (Don't worry, it's coming though!) Let me know what you think of this recipe in a comment, and remember: Live life, and eat well! 

Pear Crisp:

1 can of pears
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tbsp of granulated sugar
1/2 tbsp butter

1.) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2.) Cut pears into pieces and place them into 2 ramekins (or small oven-proof bowls). Place into a baking pan.

3.) Place the dry ingredients into a bowl; stir to combine. With a fork, cut the butter into the dry ingredients. (Basically, mash the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is broken up into small pieces.)

4.) Sprinkle the topping onto the pears, then place into the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden-brown on top. Allow to cool slightly before adding the caramel.

Caramel topping: (makes a lot, so if necessary cut this recipe in half!)

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup of water
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp of heavy cream, plus more if needed

1.) In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar over medium heat.

2.) Cook the mixture until it turns a light golden color. Be very careful; once this mixture starts to turn yellow, it progresses really fast to burnt so turn off the heat when the color is somewhat lighter than what you'd consider done.

3.) Add the butter to the mixture and allow to melt, then add the heavy cream; stir to combine. If needed, add more cream to achieve the right consistency.

4.) Drizzle on top of the crisps, then dig in!

PSA: I'm working on trying to make weekly posts, so bear with me until I can get this together! Thanks for the support, you're awesome :-)