The Cin-ful Pear and Going to Hell (Michigan)

Cinnamon Pear 'Packets'

 

 

 

 

The sky was blue. Fall colors were in full bloom. It was a great day for a road trip.

It had come to my attention that Hell, Michigan was a short three hour drive. Halloween had passed and I was curious to see how Hell had fared. What provisions would be need? I guessed perhaps some ice water since I've always been told the people of Hell wanted some. We left early so a breakfast-type snack was in order as well. A Cin-ful Pear would do the trick. It was a crispy tortilla with a tangy pear and mascarpone filling. Of course there was lots of cinnamon on the inside and out. Why else would it be called Cin-ful? Then there was a little surprise...the Ancho Chili Powder. It not only brought with it some heat (that's ever so mild) but a sweetness that complimented the cinnamon, the pears and the creamy cheese very well. It was perfect.

 

So we set out early and before we knew it, we were in Ann Arbor. It's amazing how fast time goes by when you are enjoying time with the one you love, especially on a highway to Hell. One of the very first odd things about Michigan we noticed was although speed limits were posted quite frequently, the locals drove pretty darn fast. By the time we turned onto the road that went through Hell, a car barreled around the corner, almost hitting us. A few choice words later and a sigh of relief led me to exclaim..."That guy was driving like a Bat Out of Hell!" My poor husband grimaced, knowing there was more to come. My reason was...if you are taking the time to go to Hell, you might as well have fun with it.

I have to admit, the next off thing was the weather. Ohio was in it's glory as the leaves peaked last weekend. The oranges and reds and yellows looked even brighter framed by a blue sky dotted with big fluffy white clouds. When we crossed into Michigan, the colors were burnt and rusty and...

The closer we came to Hell, the darker it became. The sun disappeared, the clouds moved in and the scenery turned to a bleak grey.

Before we knew it, we were in Hell and then out of Hell. We were told that everyone misses Hell the first time around. We turned around, went back to Hell and parked. Hell, after all, is a smaller place than one would imagine. It was cold and pretty empty too. We got out of the car and I grabbed my jacket. My husband commented on the chill in the air and I, of course, stated the obvious...It was indeed a cold day in Hell. There was that grimace again.

Hell was three buildings large and once the sight of a still and there was a damn. We made our first stop the ice cream parlor where I quickly found the souvenirs. I bought postcards from Hell, mugs, soup dishes. The clerks kindly singed my postcards with a secret flame in their office and the smell of burnt paper for some reason was a very exciting thing. While I was paying for my items, the clerk told us that people from all over the world come to Hell, all nations, even Australia, just to visit Hell.
The next stop was the Halloween store...more things to buy!!! It was there I learned that Hell is safer than Detroit, an amazingly true fact that most people do not know. I found t-shirts and magnets. Hell was a Halloween paradise. There were even cute little rubber duckies in their Scream costumes...which of course I had to have. Skeletons, skulls...so much to buy....so little room left to store my treasures. My buying spree was slightly curbed by my husband. I did put a few things back but the Scream Rubber Ducky was mine.
The clerk here was amazingly friendly. She began to talk to us about history, Ellis Island, immigration, modern times. Then she began to tell us how nice Hell was and where we could go within Hell. I made my mind up that we would have to return some day to spend a little more time. There was hiking. There was a damn, a restaurant and there was a cute little town right outside of Hell that was calling my name. Yes, I could come back to Hell. We were given our exit visas, along with a few extra in case anyone else we knew needed safe passage out of Hell.
It was then back to the car to unload a (ahem) few items. A fellow tourist in Hell asked me to snap a picture of him. I kindly obliged. The clouds were thick and I snapped a few photos of my own. The Gates of Hell, an entrance to a closed-for-the season putt putt course, turned out to be a pretty Hellish photo. It couldn't look more Hell-ish if I tried. My husband had grown weary of Hell and since we left our home a lot later than we should have, our time in Hell was short.
We headed back toward home and the craziest thing happened. The sun reappeared.
There's the sun..
















and a few more pictures I snapped while in Hell....

Hell really is quite a beautiful place, albeit a bit on the morbid side. I never did ask anyone if they wanted any of my ice water I brought with us. They were just too nice and they all looked sufficiently hydrated. Their safe passage visas worked and a few hours later, we found ourselves almost home and eating a very nice BBQ dinner at a local restaurant. The name of the BBQ Sauce? Devil's Spit.

I kid you not.

 

 

 

The Cin-ful Pear

Yield: Three (One to sample before you leave and a pair to take with you)

The Pear Filling

2 Pears, cored and thinly sliced

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

1/2 tsp Ancho Chili Powder

2 Tbsp Pure Cane Sugar

1Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice

 

The Cheese Filling

1/2 cup Mascarpone

2 Tbsp Heavy Cream

1/2 tsp Vanilla

1 tsp Honey

 

3  10" Flour Tortillas

1 tbsp. Melted Butter

 

Cinnamon Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 Tbsp Pure Cane Sugar

1/4 tsp Ancho Chili Powder

 In a saucepan, over medium heat cook the pears with the sugar, lemon and spices until the pears soften and the liquid begins to thicken. (About 5-7 minutes.)

 Mix together the mascarpone, heavy cream, vanilla and honey.

 Use one third of the mascarpone filling down the middle of a tortilla.
Add about a quarter cup of filling. Be careful not to overfill or your filling will run out.

 Fold the top and the bottom over your filling.
Fold the right side over to the center.
Fold the right side over once again, flipping the tortilla so the seam is on the bottom.

 With a pastry brush, coat both sides of the tortilla lightly with melted butter.

 Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

 Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat with just a smidgen of butter.
Fry both sides of the tortilla until they are a beautiful caramelized golden amber color.
It should only take about 3 minutes a side.

Taste test.

Place the remaining pears in a hand basket for their trip.

 Have a Hell of a good time. ;)