From Boredom to Bliss
By Mark Mulcahy
It’s April and if you are like many folks you are probably growing a little tired of the options in your produce department these days. Apples are fine but have lost a little of their autumn excitement and the many varieties of citrus are still absolutely delicious but they too can lose their excitement when eaten day after day.
This brings me to pears. What? Pears? Yes I heard those words resonate through your brain. Yes, Melissa’s Organic Pears! We are blessed with new crop pears from the southern hemisphere and they are delicious! Bartlett’s are the pear I grew up with, when eaten firm, and slightly yellow with still a tinge of green it has a taste that’s green and grassy. And their crisp texture combined with the flavor really tastes like spring even though they come from an autumn that is far away. When fully yellow, ripe but not too soft, these Bartlett beauties bring to mind a pleasure that can merge the imagination and memory of adult and childhood. I can remember overripe ones eaten under a tree that seemed to embody the very sun we were sitting in. And the sliced pear and peanut butter on toast breakfasts that accompanied cartoons on Saturday mornings are deeply etched in the chapters of my youth. And then there is now. These newly ripe green pears pair wonderfully with a nutty, buttery sheep's milk Gouda. While this is enough to bring an afternoon of pleasure its riper yellow and creamy version can truly send you somewhere else. Soft but firm, sweet and ready to hold its texture just long enough until it melts deliciously onto your tongue.
On the porch in the springtime sun or by the fire with a few slices and a glass of young pinot noir may inspire poetry or the courage to ask that special someone for a first date.
And you know what? You wouldn’t have to leave the house. Put on some Boney James or Norah Jones, open the wine, bring the cheese to room temperature, lay out a baguette and let the afternoon unfold. Who knows you may find that you are quite a “pear”.
The combination of pear and cheese is sweet, creamy, caramel-ly, and nutty. If you ever dreamed of eating whatever you wanted when you were little, and then discovered that your kid-days wish list is not what your adult palate dreams of ... this combination is. We thought it went smashingly with XX pinot noir. The pinot takes it sideways deliciously, and with each taste you are sucked further in. This combination is an essential holiday treat- no matter the season or day. Share it with folks you wish you spent more time with.
It’s April and if you are like many folks you are probably growing a little tired of the options in your produce department these days. Apples are fine but have lost a little of their autumn excitement and the many varieties of citrus are still absolutely delicious but they too can lose their excitement when eaten day after day.
This brings me to pears. What? Pears? Yes I heard those words resonate through your brain. Yes, Melissa’s Organic Pears! We are blessed with new crop pears from the southern hemisphere and they are delicious! Bartlett’s are the pear I grew up with, when eaten firm, and slightly yellow with still a tinge of green it has a taste that’s green and grassy. And their crisp texture combined with the flavor really tastes like spring even though they come from an autumn that is far away. When fully yellow, ripe but not too soft, these Bartlett beauties bring to mind a pleasure that can merge the imagination and memory of adult and childhood. I can remember overripe ones eaten under a tree that seemed to embody the very sun we were sitting in. And the sliced pear and peanut butter on toast breakfasts that accompanied cartoons on Saturday mornings are deeply etched in the chapters of my youth. And then there is now. These newly ripe green pears pair wonderfully with a nutty, buttery sheep's milk Gouda. While this is enough to bring an afternoon of pleasure its riper yellow and creamy version can truly send you somewhere else. Soft but firm, sweet and ready to hold its texture just long enough until it melts deliciously onto your tongue.
On the porch in the springtime sun or by the fire with a few slices and a glass of young pinot noir may inspire poetry or the courage to ask that special someone for a first date.
And you know what? You wouldn’t have to leave the house. Put on some Boney James or Norah Jones, open the wine, bring the cheese to room temperature, lay out a baguette and let the afternoon unfold. Who knows you may find that you are quite a “pear”.
The combination of pear and cheese is sweet, creamy, caramel-ly, and nutty. If you ever dreamed of eating whatever you wanted when you were little, and then discovered that your kid-days wish list is not what your adult palate dreams of ... this combination is. We thought it went smashingly with XX pinot noir. The pinot takes it sideways deliciously, and with each taste you are sucked further in. This combination is an essential holiday treat- no matter the season or day. Share it with folks you wish you spent more time with.
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