PB and PB

Peanut butter is just one of those near-perfect foods;  a fine balance of sweet and savoury.  Years and years went by when I could guarantee that the sandwich in my brown paper bag was peanut butter (creamy peanut butter, white bread, crusts okay).  I was rather the purist.  Ninety-five percent of the time it was strictly a plain peanut butter sandwich.  On occasion, I would mix it up and have peanut butter and mustard (don't judge) or if I was at home, peanut butter and banana (but it had to be on toast).  I was never a big fan of jelly and would only have it on toast with butter.

Tastes change over the years.  I appreciate the joys of jam these days, especially the homemade variety.  And while for the most part I still prefer my peanut butter solo, peanut butter with jam is a welcome addition.  I gave up on the peanut butter and mustard long ago.  Over the past year, I've made a fair share of jams, marmalades, and preserves.  Strawberries, raspberries, plums, peaches, and oranges have found their way to the stovetop with some sugar and water.

Three very ripe Bartlett pears in the fruit bowl inspired me to make pear butter.  A cursory look online gave me the basics and from there, my version of pear butter was born.  I like that you have a little extra leeway in the spices department here.  Fruit butters have a warmth to them, which is probably why I've associated them with Autumn.  I think that's about to change.

Of course, I paired my pear butter with peanut butter.  I can easily see myself breaking the 'peanut butter only' toast habit I have with this stuff around.  It's also fantastic swirled in plain yogurt and topped with granola.

Pear Butter
(Adapted from a recipe on Allrecipes.com)
Makes roughly 1 1/2 cups

3 large Bartlett pears, cored and cubed
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
Juice from one orange
4 cloves
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1/2 cup turbinado sugar

In a medium saucepan, add pears, water, orange zest, cloves, and orange juice.  Bring to a low boil and let pears soften and cook, about 12-15 minutes.  Place a fine mesh strainer over a mixing bowl and pour  the pears into the strainer.  Stir and puree and push through the strainer.  Remove the cloves and any larger pieces of pear skin.  Return the puree and strained juice back to the saucepan.  With the pan over low heat, add the sugar and five spice powder.  Stir to mix ingredients.  Stir occasionally so fruit doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan.  Cook on a low simmer for 20 minutes or until sugar dissolves and puree starts to thicken.  

Remove from heat and store in a container in refrigerator.  

Morning Glow

In the early hours of Sunday morning, we turned our clocks back from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time.  I've never thought much about how it affected me.  I lamented about losing that precious hour back in March and while I initially kind of missed the early darkness, having the long days grew on me.

For the last couple of months, I was having the worst time waking up in the mornings.  I always have my alarm clocks (a clock on my dresser and my old Blackberry) set for 6:00 a.m, even on the weekends.  The intention:  waking up to enjoy the quiet of the morning, maybe going out to a farmers market on the weekend, or the gym.  Even if I never made it out the front door, I could leisurely enjoy a cup of coffee, the morning news, and spend time with happily fed cats.  But day after day, I would hit that 'snooze' button...and hit it...and hit it.  Six a.m. turned into 7, turned into 7:45, turned into 8:30.  I'm always a little peeved with myself after sleeping in, feeling like I've already wasted too much of the day.

Well...four days in and I am up and out of bed by 7:00.  My internal clock is in tune with the start of The Today Show every morning.  Yes...I still hit the snooze button, but for two, not two dozen times.  I have even found myself waking up before the alarm goes off and before any cat comes to tell me it's time for breakfast.

My bedroom has north-facing windows, but I get a flicker of rising sun (from a bounce of light off the neighbour's window) in the morning.  Maybe it's the time of year, but there is a warm golden glow that slips through the curtains in the morning.  It's the kind of light that makes me want something warm and comfort food-ish for breakfast instead of a bowl of cereal or toast.  Since we're only a couple of weeks away from Thanksgiving, I almost feel obliged to make something with pumpkin.  I'm going to run with it.  Pumpkin is finally growing on me, though I find it a little bland.  Is this normal?  Is it really everything else in a pumpkin pie that makes people mad-crazy for it?  There's still half a can left, so rest assured, I'll be making more pumpkin-centric foods over the next couple of days.

I went with a dish that I've been coming across pretty frequently on blogs and Pinterest.  Baked oatmeal.  No fancy ingredients.  Spices that you probably already have in your pantry.  Not a lot of time needed to bake.  The kind of dish that tastes indulgent and feels like you spent more time on it than you actually did.  This isn't the kind of dish you need to wait until the weekend to make.  It is for all these reasons and because baked oatmeal is just so good, that you need to make this.

 Baked Oatmeal with Pumpkin and Maple Creme Fraiche
Adapted from a recipe on Egginon
Serves 2 

1 cup quick oats
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, combine the oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and five spice.  In a small bowl, combine the milk, egg, vanilla, and pumpkin and whisk until fully mixed.  Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.  

Pour batter into a oven-proof baking dish (I used a 5x7 shallow baking dish) and bake for 25 minutes.  Serve while still quite warm.

Maple Creme Fraiche
Makes 1/4 cup

1/4 cup creme fraiche
1 Tbsp maple syrup

Gently whisk the syrup with the creme fraiche and spoon over baked oatmeal right before serving.  If you don't have creme fraiche, you can easily swap out plain or vanilla yogurt mixed with the maple syrup or drizzle maple syrup directly over the oatmeal.  The creme fraiche just tips the scales into indulgent.  

Lucky in the morning light.