Cranberry Juice-Poached Pears with Vanilla Ice Cream

Were you paying attention? Did you notice that between my Lunar New Year post and Valentine's Day, I showed you all red recipes? :) This recipe came about by using up cranberry juice left over from lil' sis's New Year's Eve party. Don't worry, I made this months ago, it's not juice that's been sitting in the fridge for months. :P Anyway, normally I love red wine-poached pears but I don't drink much wine these days and didn't want to waste a bottle. Also, this way, the cranberry juice creates a lovely thick syrup to drizzle over the ice cream. I had one lonely pear to use up, so obviously use more juice if you want to serve more than just yourself. Cranberry Juice-Poached Pears with Vanilla Ice Cream For one serving, you'll need: 1 pear, sliced in half and cored 1 cup cranberry juice 2 tblsp sugar, or more if you've got a sweeter tooth than mine I used a somewhat ripe Bosc pear for this so that it wasn't too hard, but not too soft. Slice in half and hollow out the core. In a small pan on medium to medium-low heat, stir 2 tblsp of sugar into 1 cup cranberry juice until dissolved. Add pear halves and let simmer until the cranberry juice thickens into a sauce. This takes about 15 minutes or so. Make sure to check and flip the pears so the color is evenly coated. The sugars in the juice should form a nicely caramelized sauce. Spoon pears into a shallow bowl, add some vanilla ice cream, and drizzle hot cranberry sauce on top. Enjoy! ***** 1 year ago today, the best maple bars ever at Miss Donuts & Bagel - La Verne.