Pastry Wrapped Pears with a Vanilla Sauce of Course!

Oh my my, oh hell yes, hunny put on that party dress!  Or fat pants.
I vote fat pants, like buffet style - the ones that have drawstrings so you can loosen away when eating until you can't move.
I may or may not own a pair, that may or may not come out at holiday time, or Sundays.

Pants or no pants, if you like pears you will LOVE this dessert.
Its beautiful.
Its tasty.
And its pear, vanilla sauce AND puffy flaky pastry!  How can you NOT want to make this??

I'm Listening to: Last Dance with Mary Jane - Tom Petty

Poaching - The Kind You're Allowed to Do

Poaching.
A lost method of cooking in our house.
I personally don't like runny eggs, the Mr. BM doesn't like chicken without skin and crunchy bits on his meat and Little Ugh, well he thinks its "weird mom".
Lunar eclipses might happen more often than poaching in my house.

So what is it that I am talking about?
I can tell you that I am not referring to garbing up in camo fatigues, sitting in a tree in the off season to catch animals that are illegal.

Although this would be an awesome party chair wouldn't it??

Basically, poaching is a method by which you are cooking something in a simmering liquid.  Generally fish, fruit and chicken because they can be delicate or dry out and this process is gentle and preserves flavors well.

It is also a healthy way to prepare certain foods.
Except in this post.

I poached pears.  In sugar water.  Not "quite" healthy.
But OH SO DELICIOUS!

3 ingredients
pears
water
vanilla bean

Peel and core the pear - keeping the stem on

Add 3 cups of water along with about 3/4c - 1 c. sugar into a small saucepan on low/med heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Once the sugar has dissolved, add 1 vanilla bean, cut in half and split to expose the seeds along with the pear

Ideally I have read you should really have the pears completely submerged but as long as you are rotating while you poach they will not turn colour.
The whole process should take about 10 minutes once you drop the pears in.

I like to eat mine cold, so I like to gently place them in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and toss in the fridge for at least an hour.
Your choice

I'm Listening To:  Lemon Tree - Peter, Paul and Mary (I'm being nostalgic)

Tip of the Week - Heavy Cream

Write a list BEFORE you go grocery shopping.
That's a tip I'm sure you are familiar with!

Apparently I do not heed my own advice.....
Yup, its a good thing I'm pretty.

Hence the post.
As I am sure you've guessed I needed heavy cream for a recipe and what do you know, I didn't have any in the fridge.
But eureka!  A solution!

You can make your own heavy cream substitute (although I have only tried this in a few recipes I am not sure it would stand up in a "all liquid" recipe)

Here's all you'll need:

3/4 c. milk
1/3 c. butter
(maybe a tbsp. of flour if using less than 2% milk)

In a sauce pan add milk and butter and heat. (not to boiling point)
Whisk in the flour if needed.

Done