I’ve discovered that I’m really bad at taking a photo of the end product of a recipe. I just get so caught up in getting the dish finished and into peoples’ hungry bellies that I miss capturing that final, enticing image. In this case, the crisp was actually devoured so fast that within five minutes, there was nothing left to take a picture of!

I think it helped that the pears and cranberries created a sweet and slightly tart bedding for a thick, blanket of buttery, crispy goodness. Or, that the whole crisp was served warm out of the oven with a scoop of homemade bourbon vanilla bean ice cream. Whatever it was, you’re left to use your imagination a little bit to picture what this deliciousness looked like. Think you can do that? I promise I’ll work on my “failure to take a final photo” problem in the meantime.

This was the perfect Thanksgiving dessert, but I think it’s more like the perfect winter, holiday treat. Don’t you think the pop of red in the cranberries would be great for Christmas time? And then as the seasons and produce selections change, the fruits can be swapped for apples or peaches or berries. Yum.

If you give it a try, send me a photo of what it turned out looking like!

Pear and Cranberry Crisp, from Martha Stewart

4-6 firm pears, cut into 1-1 1/2 inch chunks (about 6 cups total)
a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups cranberries
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup old fashioned oats
a pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the pears, lemon juice, cranberries, and 1/3 cup sugar in a large mixing bowl. Toss and make sure fruit is evenly coated with lemon juice and sugar.

Divide the fruit mixture into 6 8-oz ramekins, a 3 quart baking dish, or 2 1.5 quart baking dishes (in my case).

For the crumble, remove the butter from the refrigerator and cut into 1/4-1/2 inch chunks. Add to a food processor along with the flour. Pulse into pea-sized clumps form. Add the remaining ingredients (brown sugar, cinnamon, oats, salt, 1/2 cup sugar) and pulse until moist clumps form. About 15 pulses or so.

Sprinkle the crumble evenly onto the fruit mixture. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, until the fruit is tender the topping is golden.

And, you must serve warm and topped with vanilla ice cream.