Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Pears The Perfect Winter Fruit

If you think you can't get any decent fruit during the colder months ,think again. There are plenty of different kind of harvests to be found. Of course there's the citrus fruit being shipped in from Florida and California. There's also that winter classic- the pear. It's been around for millenniums , enjoyed from everyone from ancient kings to modern day techies . It's even been mentioned in the popular carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas". After all it's not a rosebush the partridge sits on.

Pears have been around since ancient times, even garnering a mention in literature of the day. They were cultivated throughout the ancient world where the Chines and Romans were the biggest consumers. It's a member of the Maloideae family a sub genus of the Rosacae the genus that apples derive from. in fact apple and pear blossoms resemble each other in color and number of petals. The word pear come from the west Germanic pyra and first the Vulgar Latin . Any Anglo Saxon place name with Perry refers to an area where pears were grown . Perry also refers to pear wine as well.

Pears are not only the perfect low calorie snack. they're the perfect curative as well. Eat them to lower blood pressure or to relieve arthritis. They're also beneficial in preventing colon cancer and gout. A simple pear is only 96 calories and loaded with Vitamin C. Add a few to your weekly winter diet to stave off colds and flus. The best way to eat them is just fresh although you can have the ones packed in syrup for a dessert or snack too.

Don't fret about the lack of fruit that comes with winter. There is always the pear and this is the season to get stock up on them. Have them for a quick snack at work or when your holiday shopping.

1 comment:

PikeTalk said...

As most of you know, I will NOT drink Starbuck's Coffee. Many of you have called me a coffee snob for sticking by and recommending only Gloria Jeans. Well those days are past. As some of you know, our local Gloria Jeans store recently closed and we were left with teh option of purchasing online. DO NOY, I repeat DO NOT purchase from Gloria Jeans online!
My friend Lucia, recently purchased 9 pounds of coffee from Gloria Jeans online. When the box arrived it had 8 pounds of coffee and enough packing peanuts to fill the 9th pound space. The box was marked as weighing 10 pounds. It did NOT weigh 10 pounds. Lucia called Gloria Jeans customer service who verified that it had been shipped and they believed it weighed 9.2 pounds. Now it was very foolish of them. Lucia has been one of the largest supporters of the Gloria Jean local store before it closed and would ahve continued to be a large purchaser via their online store before they would not admit they could ahve shorted her a pound of coffee. Needless to say, since I have heard this, those of you would regularly get Gloria Jean coffee for holiday gifts, you will not be.