Autumn Beet Salad with Spiced Pecans, Pears and Fourme D'Ambert

This weekend was a busy one for recipes. The above titled recipe actually has 3 recipes from the same book as components of the final product. The Salad, as it will here to be named, is from Frank Stitt's Southern Table.
On Sunday the 13th our family had a Mardi Gras/birthday party to attend. Being the good friend I am (I try!) I offered to bring something to the party. The hostess requested salad, as she hates making salad? Who hates making salad? My friend, I guess. She also gave me the option of bringing something kid friendly instead, as she was concerned that some of the kids might not like the gumbo she was going to serve. As a fan of making kids eat fun and interesting things, I opted not to make kid food, and to make a yummy salad. My husband was amused I picked a salad with beets as I think they taste like dirt. Ever the grown up, I resolved to try them again for the sake of the blog.
The salad consisted of gold and red beets, freshly roasted, mixed green lettuce, Bartlett pears, spiced pecans, some Fourme d'Ambert blue cheese, and slab bacon. Not a low-cal salad, but this is for a party! When cooking for parties, rules go out the window, do they not? Unless, of course, it's for a diet party. That's not the type of party I'd like to attend. The dressing for the salad was Mr. Stitts sherry vinaigrette. The Spiced Pecans were also from a recipe on a different part of the book. Handily, the husband had made these previously for a gift and had leftovers hanging around.
The recipe was easy and straight forward. I think the only drawback to the recipe was the wait time for the beets to roast. We baked ours fro 60 minutes (the recipe stated 45-60 minutes) and ours still turned our a bit on the firm side. But we had a party to get to, so we played it off as intentional.
The salad was well received by the hostess and the guests alike. The hostess gave due credit whenever someone complimented her on the salad. My landlords wife came up to me specifically to tell me how much she enjoyed it. Heck, even I ate the beets. They were delicious. I liked the firm texture, but I'm a beet novice, so someone else might not be as enthusiastic about them.
My husband liked the salad, I think. Didn't really get to see him much at the party. My kids did not try the salad (both enjoyed the gumbo, though). I guess I'll have to take others compliments to heart that this was a successful salad.