Holiday Pears Appetizer

This is an elegant appetizer to bring to any of your holiday parties. Poached pears, flavored with cinnamon on a base of cream cheese and bleu cheese with chopped walnuts (if you like).

2 large pears, sliced
4 cups water
1 tbsp cinnamon

2 blocks of cream cheese, softened
1/2 container crumbled bleu cheese
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Place water and pears into a large shallow pan and sprinkle cinnamon over pears. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until pears are tender (if your pears are very ripe, you may not even need the 15 minutes). While pears are simmering, put walnuts into small saute pan, heat on medium and toss the pan occasionally to evenly toast the nuts. Mix cream cheese and bleu cheese and spread into a shallow serving dish (I use a nice pie dish). Arrange pears over cheese mixture and sprinkle toasted walnuts over the pears. There are no walnuts in the picture because I forgot to take them with us! I also sprinkled a little additional cinnamon over the pears in the picture.

My girlfriends and I used to top slices of french baguette with this delicious-ness and eat as a meal. Can also be served with crackers or endive (a hoity-toity lettuce!).

I get nothing but raves from this dish - enjoy!

The Grocery Cart Challenge is where you can find delicious recipes every week for the recipe swap - thanks to Gayle for hosting it. She's got a great cookie recipe and gift idea this week - be sure to check it out!