Giveaway and Pear Galette

I think pears are romantic! And this easy Pear Galette speaks my culinary love language... easy and yummy!

Pears are a beautiful, perfumy elegant fruit with a honey-laced flavor and succulent texture! There are 3,000 varieties of pears know around the world. What a delicious world we live in!

Here's how to make this luscious dessert!...



I had an abundance of pears after posting a tablecape tribute to the pear. Click here to see the tablescape. Not wanting them to go to waste I made a couple of pear galettes. A galette is a rustic open faced tart, or pie. Wonderfully formed and filled with fruit.

This galette is very easy to make. The pate brisee (butter pie dough) and pear galette are from Martha Stewart. I promise, this is the best and easiest pie crust to work with!

Pate Brisee

•2 1/2 cups flour

•1 teaspoon salt

•1 teaspoon sugar

•1 cup (2 sticks) chilled butter, cut into small pieces

•1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Put flour, sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a couple of seconds to mix.
Cut butter into small pieces. This is best done right on the wrapper, because it won't stick and  when cut is easily transported to the food processor.

 Pulse until mixture resembles course meal.

Add a stream of water just until dough holds together.

Put on pastry cloth dusted with flour and divide into 2 lumps.
Form into discs and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Pear Galette
5 ripe pears
1 tsp corn starch
1/4 cup sugar
1 pinch of salt
dusting of cinnamon
1 TBS butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
sanding sugar
apricot jam

Peel the pears and core with a melon baller. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Add cornstarch, sugar and salt. Mix gently.

Roll out dough to a 14 inch circle.

Put dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Pile pears in the center of the dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bring the sides of the dough towards the center of the galette.
Dot pears with butter.

Make an egg wash and brush it on the dough. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. Warm 2 TBS apricot jam in the microwave until melted. Pour over pears in the opening of the dough.

Put the galette in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Remove and put in oven.
Bake for 1 hour until the center is bubbly and the crust is browned.

Let sit until galette reaches room temperature. Slice as you would a pie and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

REMEMBER TO 

Pear Tablescape

It is almost Pumpkin time at StoneGable... Almost! Tucked between the sun and fun of lazy August days and the falling leaves, crisp breezes and pumpkins of October is Orchard Time!

Beautiful apples, luscious grapes and fragrant perfumy pears! September is a wonderful celebration of fruitful bounty!

Apples and grapes have had their 15 minutes of fame and now the pear is in the spotlight. Delicate and dripping with honey-laced flavor, the pear is worth a table all it's own.

The pears are the true stars of this Autumnal table. Hand painted pear bowls grace each place setting. They are recycled from a post last year. Every element of this table is something I had in my cupboards and used on past posts. I just recycled them, so to speak, to create this tribute to the pear.

The pear bowl sits on a trio of eclectic dishes. The edges and shapes of each dish are very different... this adds to the mismatched feel I love. It is the color of each dish that pick up the a color in the hand painted pear and becomes the unifying element.

To continue the natural feel, each place was set with a twiggy place mat. Vintage flatware with smooth, warm amber handles sit between the grooves of mats.

Three seckle pears and a tiny candle sit at each place as a personal vignette. The pears, at their luscious peak, are a take home gift for each guest to eat and remember their evening at StoneGable. I think their form and color are so beautiful!

Two little wreaths work together to make a statement of a napkin ring! Twiggy birch and a faux golden bittersweet wreaths gather up the napkins. This is an over-the-top treatment that I just love! It brings such pizzazz!  Earthy meets glam!

The centerpiece  is shared by 2 pear elements. A large decorative pear sits upright and larger than life.

 An arrangement of several varieties of pears are nestled in a twiggy birch wreath on a turned pedestal. Bosc, Green Anjou, Bartlett and Forelle pears become a feast for the eyes!

The pears are real, the leaves faux. Aren't they exquisite. The blush on the Forelle pairs are captivating!

Bubble glasses are a StoneGable favorite. These, in amber, continue the gold color theme in the table.

Green glazed pots filled with popcorn become interesting candles.

The overall look is warm and organic with a touch of old world color and feel.

 At StoneGable pears are artistic delights and culinary wonders!

The Menu

Mixed Greens with Sliced Pears, Spiced Pecans and Bleu in a Poppyseed Dressing

Pork Chops With Smoked Gouda and Bacon

for recipe click here and look on Wednesday's menu

Whipped Potatoes

Roasted Root Vegetables

Pear Galette

Chardoney

with pear overtones

Coffee andTea



FALL PUMPKIN WREATH TUTORIAL

Here at StoneGable the change of season gives me a reason to create a new wreath. 

I love the saturated color of fall... the warm hues and the wonderful textures!

This wreath is overflowing with autumnal abundance!  

It's really quite easy to make a big full FALL PUMPKIN WREATH... I'll show you step by step...

StoneGable Fall 2010 Wreath Tutorial

2 large wreaths

3 glitzy pumpkins

5 large picks of orange/brown berries

4 large picks of earthy colored ball "berries"

2 packages of crape paper like fall leaves

3-5 picks assorted brambly berries and leaves

2 bags of pine cones and acorns

3 large pine cones

2 large stems, brown gourd pods

3 feather picks

2 packs of assorted feathers

odds and ends leaves and berries

florist wire

hot glue

dust buster

 Begin by wiring 2 grapevine wreaths together. This will make your wreath big and lush!

Because I wanted the whole wreath to be filled in, I sectioned the wreath into thirds and glued a large pick of rusty colored berries to the wreath.

Add additional variegated large berry/ball pics in between the original 3 picks.

This now sections off the wreath and makes little areas to work with. I find this much easier than trying to work on the whole wreath at one time.

Add pumpkins up against the original 3 berry pick

Tuck leaves under the pumpkins, crinkling them to give them visual life.

Add pine cones. I decided to use only 2 large ones and 1 grouping of small pine cones in place of the 3rd large pine cone, again for more interest.

Begin to fill in the gaps between each section with berries,leaves. feather pics,  pine cones and acorns. Continue to fill in and layer elements until the wreath is abundant and filled with visual interest.

Hang wreath and continue to fill in while looking at it in a vertical position.  This is a very important step.  Because the wreath will be viewed in an upright position, make sure there are no gaps or visual unbalance in the wreath when it hangs. I added feathers once the wreath was vertical. It was easier to position them.

Shake wreath and re-glue all loose pieces.  Fluff and hang in the perfect spot!

Hang and enjoy!