I brought a container of fresh pineapple home from the supermarket – already peeled, cored and cut – thinking to provide a convenient snack, needing no preparation.

What I imagined would be gone in mere hours, was still languishing in the refrigerator days later – so I promptly looked for recipes to transform this tropical fruit.

After chopping, measuring, mixing, patting, pouring and placing the Fresh Pineapple Bars into the oven, I received a call from the school nurse, informing me my daughter wasn’t feeling well and would need to be picked up. Torn between motherly duty and bakers responsibility, I turned the temperature down on the oven and made the drive across town – with the bars being no worse for my neglect during their cooking time.

By comparison, using up the rest of the fruit was simple – I blended it with lime and simple syrup, poured it into three glasses, topped two of them with gin and a sprig of fresh mint and enjoyed a happy hour with my husband and daughter.

FRESH PINEAPPLE BARS

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups flour, divided

1 cup sugar, divided

pinch of salt

1 egg

1/3 cup sour cream

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup fresh pineapple, chopped

Heat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with foil, spray with cooking spray, set aside.

In a large bowl, add the butter, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar and salt. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Reserve 3/4 cup of this mixture, set aside.

Transfer remaining mixture into prepared pan and lightly press crumbs until even to form a crust.

Bake for 10 minutes.

While crust bakes, make the filling. In a large bowl, add the egg, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, sour cream, vanilla extract, and remaining 1/4 cup flour and whisk until smooth.

Remove the crust from the oven and top evenly with pineapple. Pour the sour cream mixture over the pineapple.

Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture over the top to create the crumble topping.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until edges and top are set. Place pan on wire rack and allow to cool for at least an hour before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!

PINEAPPLE AND GIN COCKTAIL

Blend 3 cups fresh pineapple pieces with 1 cup ice and 1 ounce of pineapple juice. Mix in 2 ounces simple syrup and 2 ounces fresh lime juice. Pour into glasses and top with gin, stir gently to mix. Garnish with mint.

Enjoy!