Spiced gingerbread pears

When you walk into a supermarket this week you'll likely be confronted with a huge bin of pears on sale.  Fill a bag, even if you don't know what you want to do with them.  Pears are so beautiful you can put them on the dining room table while you think about it.

The harvest moon ambushed us by coming early this year.  We're two days away from the official start of fall, and, be honest, are you ready?  Do you have corn cobs on your door and mums on the porch?  I didn't think so.  Well, try this recipe and at least your kitchen will get into the spirit.

Here's what I did with my pears---it's based on a delicious chewy ginger cookie that we make every Christmas.  They're dark with molasses and spices and crackle on top when they cook.  I took the basic cookie dough, left out the egg, added some pecan halves, and baked it on top of lots of sliced pears. 

Spiced Gingerbread Pears
Topping:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
2 tbsp molasses
6 tbsp softened butter
1/2 cup pecan halves (or chopped pecans)
Fruit:
6 ripe pears, peeled and sliced 
juice of 1/2 lemon

How easy is this.  Pile your sliced pears in the baking dish, and toss with the lemon juice.  Everything else goes into a big mixing bowl, and with your hands, combine it all until it has a crumbly texture...no more dry flour feel. (It's basically another crumble, but I'm trying not to use that word.)

Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the pears in the baking dish.  

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until browned and bubbling.  You'll love the hint of gingerbread in the air as this bakes.

If this doesn't get you excited for fall, nothing will.