Poached Stuffed Pears Recipe from: Wendy Rao, White Rock, BC

½ cup dried apricots
¼ cup dried cranberries (optional)
½ cup dried dates or raisins
½ cup raw, unsalted pecans, walnuts or almonds
1 tbsp orange zest
½ tsp cinnamon and/or ¼ tsp cardamom
4 Anjou pears
1 cup red or white wine or apple juice

Put fruits, nuts, orange zest and spices in a Quisinart or similar grinder. Blend until dough like but with nuts a bit coarse.

Peel pears leaving the stems intact. Core the pears from the bottom, this is easiest done with a melon baller.

Fill holes with fruit and nut mixture. Place them in a large sauce pan on their sides. Pour over your choice of juice and simmer on low heat with lid on for 6 minutes. Turn the pears over and simmer another 6 minutes. These pears do not get soft and mushy. Remove from heat and chill.

Serve pears in a fruit nappy with stems up and remaining juices poured over. Don’t forget the fork and spoon.

You may have filling left over and it freezes nicely or try warming it up in the microwave and sandwiching it by the teaspoonful between oatmeal cookies. Yumm!

• Apricots – Jumbo – ORGANIC
• Apricots – Jumbo
• Dates – Blonde – ORGANIC
• Dates – Deglet, Pitted
• Dates – Deglet, Pitted – ORGANIC
• Dates – Deglet – ORGANIC
• Dates – Medjool
• Dates – Medjool – ORGANIC
• Pecans – Raw, Jumbo Halves
• Pecans – Raw, Baby Halves – ORGANIC
• Raisins – Thompson – ORGANIC
• Raisins – Thompson, Select