"Pork is Pink Chicken" - Macie 4 years old

It's an Apple! It's a Pear! Who cares! It's Dessert!

Simple as apple pie.. Well an Asian Pear.

I wanted to prepare something sweet and healthy using the new spices I got from William Sonoma. I love to experiment with sweet dishes. It's the ultimate challenge when it comes to preparing them healthy. My idea of dessert is, and please do not judge me. 1 scoop of whey protein and 1 beautiful box of instant sugar- free pudding with 2 cups of iced cold milk. So I wanted to see what these spices could do. 

Recipe

1  Asian pear cored and sliced in wedges

1/4 tsp of Cinnamon

1'4 tsp of Granulated Honey

1/8 tsp of nutmeg

1/8 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of vanilla extract

1/4 cup of Part- Skim Ricotta Cheese

1 spoon full of Cool whip

Pure Maple Flakes 

Method

In a medium sauce pan, spray a little Pam to coat the bottom

 Set on medium heat

Mix your all dry ingredients together first to form one spice blend. 

Toss pears in spice blend and coat evenly

Place seasoned pears in heat pan and saute until  the pears are almost caramelized on both sides

Cover with the lid and continue cooking on low-med heat until the pears break down a little about 

(6-8 minutes)

Remove form heat, place on a plate. Make sure to spat out all the goodies left on the bottom of the pan and just top that off on the pears

In a separate bowl whisk together the ricotta cheese, and cool whip tell it's one smooth topping

Place the topping on top of the pears and finish with the maple flakes. You can use Gram cracker crumbs or even honey grahams if you like, just make sure you crush them up Throw them on top and enjoy with your favorite glass of bourbon or milk. Remember there are no rules.

Check this out Home Slice

Here's a quick and easy way to slice grape tomatoes in a flash!

These are actually baby Heirloom Tomatoes.
They have a nice aciditic and tangy flavor.

Pancake them in between two platesHolding the plates together, run a sharp knife between the plates.
Tip: If you run your knife through the tomatoes and
cannot slice right thorough, then you need to sharpen
your blade. The goal of this is to retain as much
juice as possible, which is all the flavor baby!!  

Congratulations you just saved 10 minutes!

Desperately Seeking Su - SUMAC!

 I hear a lot of people always say I don't know what we would do with out music. Can you imagine a life with out it? Can you imagine a life with out electricity, phones, facebook?  I actually think we would be fine with out facebook. I mean who wants to read about what someone is thinking...... Wait... Back to what I am thinking.  I could honestly not imagine a life with out spices. They are the essence of flavor - they make everything better! I mean pork is pork, an eggplant is an eggplant, but once you introduce Mr. and Mrs. Tandori and Sumac to the equation, well now you most definitely have a party planned for your mouth. Selecting spices can be overwhelming. I know. I stick to the basics, usually...  I just now started getting into more eclectic versatile spices and I've been cooking for more then 10 years.  Patience, I'm learning this new world also. But using a new spice should be similar to starting a  new relationship. Start slow and then gain confidence in that spice. I always think, you can always add more,  but you can't take it away, and in lower fat, healthier cooking the key is flavor and spice balance and don't forget to Taste, Taste, Taste!!!

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