Des(s)ert of the Heart

Recently, we went to a dinner that involved opening bottles of wine that carried stories with them. Long story. (Repetition intended.) But,for the first time in ages, along with the wine poached pears that I learned from my favorite Canadian and that I love, I made accompaniments. Two, in fact. The first was a saffron and honey granita that came from Granita Magic (reviewed here) and the second a frozen honey mousse from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. These lead me to buy several beautiful honeys -- an orange blossom from Red Jacket was one and a lavender honey found in an odd aisle in Canandaigua Wegmans another and the third has drifted from my memory. Both desserts made beautiful yellow-ish toned accompaniments to the reddish hued poached pears, which we served in halves. The flavors were exotic and a nice balance for the hovering on the edge of savory, acidic and sweet pears -- boscs at the perfect state of ripeness when they began (this time a very short period of) poaching. The granita was sort of grainy in texture (as always) while the mousse was a creamy delight. While I preferred the mousse, diners seemed to love them both -- not to mention the pears. I do not have the recipes on hand, so you will just have to check out the cookbooks mentioned -- and all can be made in a few hours (including time to freeze the granita and mousse). My only real puzzles? Where DOES one buy orange flower water? (I left it out.)

If you ask nicely, maybe I can find the recipes and type them in!