Pear and Cranberry Crisp

Martha, Martha, Martha.... she confused me by instructing to discard any unripe cranberries that floated to the top of a bowl of water when you rinse the cranberries.  I thought this meant to discard any that floated, but all of mine floated, but they all float on those cranberry juice commercials when the guys are knee high in cranberries, so I just used them all anyway.  I think she just meant to discard any unripe ones in general. Unnecessary anxiety, Martha.

Anyway... this was easy and tasty.  I used 8 pears, not the suggested 4-6, to get 6 cups of chopped pears because I am not yet an expert pear corer.  I also bought vanilla ice cream to go with this, but forgot to bring it out at my potluck. Sorry friends!

Pear and Cranberry Tart 
From: Martha Stewart


Ingredients

4 to 6 firm pears (6 cups), cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups cranberries
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup chilled (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats
Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Peel and cut 6-8 firm pears into small pieces, 6 cups total. In a large bowl, toss pears with 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Add cranberries and 1/3 cup sugar and mix together.

3. To make the crisp topping: In a food processor, pulse 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled butter until clumps form. Add 1/4 cup each granulated and light-brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup rolled oats, and a pinch of salt. Pulse again until large, moist clumps form.

4. Transfer to a baking dish (I used a 13x9) and sprinkle with topping (you can also use ramekins to make individual servings). The topping will be moist, so spread it out over the fruit as best you can. Bake until fruit is tender and topping is golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating.  

Crans! Man, they are tart:

 Crans + Pears:

While I was making this, this guy showed up at my bird feeder! A parakeet! What! Someone's pet must have gotten away, but this little guy seems to be doing fine; he was showing those sparrows who was boss.