Pears and prosciutto pair up in a salad and on a pizza
Pear perks. Yep, I’m lucky enough to have a sister and brother-in-law who giveth pears each year. I previously shared that my sister’s husband’s family has a farm in southern Oregon where my brother-in-law’s dad planted pear trees in the early ‘90s. We look forward every year to getting our hands on pears from the Vaughn family farm. Last month my sister shipped box #1 to my husband for his birthday. Unfortuantely, UPS decided to let them sit around in the heat before delivering (should have taken one day) and we received a box of “sauce” rather than pears on the verge of ripening. I managed to salvage parts of the pears and cooked them up into pear sauce for eating with pork chops and baking. Then, surprise! We received box #2 full of Bartlett, Starkrimson and Comice pears. However … we were out of town when they arrived. Thankfully, my lovely neighbor came over and carefully unpacked and separated them. She’s now my official pear handler. We gobbled up the Bartletts right away as they were the ripest. The Starkrimson pears were destined for greatness in a salad. The Comice still aren’t super ripe, but I decided they’d be perfect for a pear pizza.
Cheers to the underappreciated pear
Appearently December 5 is World Pear Day and kicks off National Pear Month. Yet, who knew? The pear just doesn’t get a fair shake. My formative experience with pears was watching my mom canning them. I don’t remember ever eating a fresh pear as a kid. Rather, they came from a jar, canned in syrup, or chopped up in fruit cocktail. Only when I visited my brother-in-law’s family farm in southern Oregon about 10 years ago did I come to appreciate the beauty of the often-overlooked pear.