Pear and Cheese Salad

 

Roasted Pear and Cheese Salad

Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day !  We had our dear friends from out of town visit overnight before Valentine's Day - then had friends from our neighborhood over for a Valentine Dinner.

I made this salad, shrimp scampi, and chocolate mousse.

This is a recipe I found years ago online and have not made it for a long time.  Glad I thought of it again, because it was a big hit.  I will list the ingredients...but I made a lot of substitutions, and I will mention those in the directions.  Here we go - 

Ingredients

3 ripe but firm Anjou pears

Freshly squeezed lemon juice - 3 lemons

3 ounces coarsely crumbled blue cheese

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

1/2 cup apple cider

3 Tablespoons port

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

6 ounces baby arugula

Kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Recipe calls for Anjou pears...we prefer Bartlett, so that is what I used.

The recipe calls for the pears to be peeled...I keep the skin on as I think it adds a nice texture. I spray them with fruit and veggie wash and give them a good scrub.

Cut the pears in half...

and slice a thin amount off of the back so the pears will sit firmly in the baking pan.

Just a bit!

Use a knife to remove any leftover stem or hard parts of the pear..

and use a melon baller or spoon to hollow out the pear for the filling.

I did not have enough lemons, so I used lemon juice from a bottle - and since I was making these in advance I put the juice in the bottom of the pan...

then set the pears with the large cut side down in the juice so they would not get brown.  At this point I put them in the refrigerator while I did some other chores.

I forgot to take a photo of mixing the filling...I used feta cheese, low sugar craisins, and pecans.  I told you...I mixed it up!

Then in a bowl I mixed orange juice ( not apple cider) and brown sugar, and no port - did not have any!

Mixed it all well and poured it over and around the pears.

Bake for 30 minutes.

When the pears are done baking, remove and place on a bed of lettuce.  I used a mixture of baby butter leaf and green mix.

Pour the liquid from the pan into a measuring cup and whisk in the olive oil.

Pour over the pears and salad greens, sprinkle with a little kosher salt, and serve.

We had a great evening - and I had fun setting the table for our Valentine Dinner.

That table cloth was gifted to my parents as a wedding gift in 1939!

I use it often - and yes, it shows wear - but I have a needle and thread handy to fix any rips.  Love using it instead of it sitting in a drawer.

I made napkin rings out of Dollar Tree heart ornaments leftover from Christmas and told our guests to take them home as a favor.

We had a great time!  I love to entertain and when I saw this quote in a magazine I thought it was the perfect thought...

I even found heart shaped pasta to complete my dinner party theme!

Did you host any guests for Valentine's Day?  Or did you celebrate with a dinner out ?  Whatever - I hope you had a lovely day.

Thanks so much for stopping by Our New Vista.  Please leave a comment below.  I love hearing from you!

And thank you to Niky from The House On Silverado for picking my Viking Mars post as a feature on this week's Sundays on Silverado!

Have a great week !

Viking Mars - Week 2

 Viking Mars - Week 2

Looking at these photos from our Viking Cruise to the Panama Canal and Central America makes me wish we were back there now - this cold weather is brutal!  I love the winter, love cold weather...but the little bit of time I spend outside really chills me.  So, here is the second week of our adventure - 

We started the second week on the Mars on our 49th anniversary, and began the day with Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon and mimosas.

It was hot and sunny - unlike our wedding day! - and we spent some time out at the infinity pool and did not take any excursion that day.  We seemed to have the ship to ourselves!

Relaxing, reading, and Pina Colladas 🍹

Reservations that night at Manfredi's - the Italian restaurant.

The staff surprised us with champagne and a beautiful cake.  We had been chatting with the diners near us and we shared the cake with them.

What a great way to celebrate #49!

Chocolate and strawberry YUM!

And John insisted I get an anniversary watch in the ship boutique.  What a perfect day!

Belize and a great tour of the Mayan ruins.

Very interesting to learn about these ruins and the Mayan culture...but the next day was the best.  We took the included tour to Pueblo del Maize...

An interactive Mayan village...a "Mayan Williamsburg" is what John called it.

We got our faces painted with Mayan symbols.

Enjoyed dancers in traditional garb.

Played the instruments the Mayans used...like shells.

Learned how the cocoa beans were used and traded.

And painted some Mayan symbols.  I am saving them to frame for our next Cinco De Mayo dinner party.

Back to our ship...the Mars is the smaller ship next to another cruise line.

We relaxed on our veranda and enjoyed the beautiful blue water.

The next day was a sea day...so relaxing.  

A pop up Margarita Bar on the Pool Deck...

Such fun! 

Beautiful sunrise the next morning...

a Nespresso in our room so we could enjoy a morning drink on the veranda...

last day lunch...last day for gelato, wine, and Nutella tart!

Cannot say enough about the wonderful trip, the great Viking staff, and the wonderful ship.  Can't wait until our next adventure!

And we came home to this beautiful scene...so we are blessed.  Hope you are all staying warm, staying safe, and enjoying this weather as best you can.  Loving cozy dinner, fireplace time, reading good books, watching fun movies, and snuggling in!

Thanks for stopping by Our New Vista - let me know how you are weathering this winter, if you have any trips to escape the cold, and what you are reading.

Please leave a comment below - I really love hearing from you.

Happy Valentine's Day, too !

 

Panama Canal and Central America

Belated Happy New Year !  Hope that 2026 has been treating you well!

We started the new year on a Viking Ocean Cruise to the Panama Canal and Central America - and it was fabulous!

For the past few years we have been traveling over the holidays - this year we were home for Christmas but left soon after to spend the New Year and our anniversary on a cruise.

We started with a two night pre-trip in Fort Lauderdale

Included in our package was an airboat ride through the everglades!

It was a lot of fun...we did not see many alligators, but that was okay with me!

The next day we boarded the Viking Mars and had a sea day to enjoy the ship before we celebrated New Year's Eve.  We were upgraded to a two room suite and it was amazing.  Small world - we met people at the airport who live in the same retirement community we do, just in another building.   Since we had a bottle of champagne in our room we invited them for an early New Year's toast!

Then off to dinner and a great New Year's Eve celebration!

New Year's Day the ship had a huge brunch with lots of different foods and a fabulous Bloody Mary for me.

Our first port was supposed to be Montego Bay in Jamaica, but since that port is still suffering from hurricane damage we docked in

Ocho Rios - we had a rum and coffee tasting tour...and enjoyed a beautiful sunset as we sailed away.

Next up was the trip through the Panama Canal - and it was amazing!

Viking had coffee and pastry in the front of the ship Explorer Lounge and a historian on board that started commentary at 6 AM as we waited to enter the canal.

She was full of information about the canal, the ships going through the locks, and the wildlife along the shore.  

We ate lunch on the Pool Deck and the ship camera kept us up to date as we sailed into the lake and then back out of the canal.

One of the things we love about Viking is the on board historians who give wonderful lectures.  Later that day we attended a great presentation about the building of the canal.

Next day was a trip into Panama City.

Beautiful architecture and Panama Hats...

Next day on to Costa Rica and a great boat tour

and here we saw a crocodile...and some sloths, too.

and could not resist this fun photo!

Then another sea day...and we LOVE sea days as there is so much to do on the ship.  We enjoyed the spa pool with the warm whirlpool, and many cozy places to read and nap.

The head chef and the pastry chef did demonstrations of dishes that were being served that day...

We enjoyed the warm weather and just sailing along...

Lunch at the pool

and my traditional dessert each day...gelato - the flavors change each day - pictured here with red velvet cake and chardonnay. 

Food was amazing...here is a grilled beet and pineapple salad...

then scallops and shrimp for dinner...and more chardonnay!  It was  not a dry January for us...unless you figure that chardonnay is dry!!! 

That was our first week on the Mars...and we had another week and our anniversary to look forward to!

Do you like to travel at the holidays?  Thanks for coming along on our adventure and stop back to see the rest of our journey next time.  Please leave a comment below and let me know how the New Year is treating you.  I love hearing from you!

Thanks for stopping by Our New Vista!