Autumn Pear Compote

I whipped this up the other day while I was buzzing around the kitchen making a bunch of other things. I had a bag of ripe, tender pears threatening to go rotten on me. I thought about making pear sauce, but decided that a nice, spiced compote would be better.

I started by dicing up five ripe pears and simmering them with a couple cinnamon sticks, a small handful of cloves, and a drizzle of fancy molasses. And then I let it simmer. I finished it off with a few fistfuls of dried cranberries. It was incredibly easy, and now I have a great snack, French toast topping, or light dessert.

Autumn Pear Compote

5 pears, cored and diced
½ cup water
2 cinnamon sticks
5 whole cloves
¾ cup dried cranberries

Simmer the pears with all the spices and the dried cranberries until the pears are tender. Let the liquid reduce a bit, mash a little with a potato masher, and serve hot or cold.