A Dessert to be Proud of

You decide to make one of your grandmother’s favorite desserts. You start by getting out an 8-inch square baking dish, measuring cups and spoons, large and medium mixing bowls, rubber spatula, cutting board, peeler, knife, and fork. You search through your pantry and grab vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, all-purpose flour, rolled oats, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and finely chopped pecans. You also check that you have a stick of salted butter in the butter dish on the counter. Now, you just need the main ingredient.

You slip on your shoes, grab a small basket from your back room, and head outside. You take in the gloomy sky above you and the dewy grass below you. You walk to the lone tree in your front yard. You notice how nicely the pears have grown this season. You search the pear tree for six medium sized pears. You finish your search and walk back to your house.

You get inside, take your shoes off, and place the basket by the sink. You wash your hands, grab your apron from it’s hook, and put it on. You set the oven to three hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit. You go back to the sink and begin washing your pears. As you clean each pear, you place them on the cutting board. You peel all the pears and throw away the skins when you finish. You cut the pears into chunky slices and place them in the large mixing bowl. Using the various measuring spoons, you add the remaining ingredients for the filling to the bowl. You measure and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 ½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon of salt. You toss all the ingredients in the bowl to combine them. Before you add the pears to the baking dish, you remember you forgot to grease the pan. You grab your non-stick spray and quickly coat the pan. You return your spray and grab your bowl of pears and your rubber spatula. You dump the pears into the dish.

You start on the topping. In the medium mixing bowl, you add: 1 stick of softened salted butter, ½ cup of all-purpose flour, ½ cup of rolled oats, ½ cup of granulated sugar, ½ cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup of finely chopped pecans, and ¼ teaspoon of salt. With a fork, you made sure to mix everything in the bowl as you add each ingredient. You take the rubber spatula again as you pour the lumpy mixture over the pears in the baking pan. You use the rubber spatula to spread the topping evenly.

Satisfied with the raw product, you place the pan into the oven and set a timer for 45 minutes. As you wait, you put away all the ingredients back where they belong. You also wash all the dirty dishes and wipe down your countertops. You remove and hang up your apron. Soon enough, you can smell the cinnamon and pecans as their scents permeate the kitchen.

As the time was getting closer for the dessert to finish, you check the dish. You saw that the dish would finish on time. After you somewhat patiently wait, you hear the timer go off. You turn off the oven and then the timer. You wear an oven mitt and open the oven to remove the dessert. You set it on the stovetop, so it cools for the next 10 minutes.

When the cooldown is almost over, you grab a bowl, a spoon, an ice cream scoop, and a container of vanilla ice cream. You grab your spoon and grab a serving of the pear crisp and quickly plop it into your bowl. You then open the ice cream container and, using the ice cream scoop, you scoop a helping of ice cream and set it on top of your serving of crisp. You put away the ice cream and went back to your creation. You take your spoon and you do your best to get an equal amount of crisp and ice cream. You feel the warmth and cold of both foods blend together in your mouth from your first bite. You manage to make a pear crisp that would make your grandmother proud.