Food for Thought : December is National Pear Month.

Pears are one of the world’s oldest cultivated fruits and they come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Varieties of pears such as Anjoe, Bartlett, Bosc and Forelly vary only slightly in flavor and texture and are, for the most part, available year round.

Washington, Oregon and California produce almost all of the pears grown in the United States. Pears pack plenty of nutritious goodness. A medium size pear has only about 100 calories, vitamin C, potassium and fiber. Here are a few tips to help you enjoy pears this season:

1 .  Substitute pears for apples in any recipe. Add a little orange or lemon juice to prevent fresh pears from browning. Pears are great in spinach salads or on a turkey sandwich.

2 .  Choose pears with no bruises or dark brown spots. Make sure to rinse the pear under cold running water before eating.

3 .  The skin of a pear is packed with nutrients, so don’t peel a pear before eating. However, do not eat the seeds.

4 .Pears ripen from the inside out. To check the ripeness of a pear, simple press near the stem with your thumb. If it gives to gentle pressure, then it is ripe and ready to eat. If you wait until the pear is soft around the middle, it will be too ripe. Pears ripen at room temperature, so leaving them out on the table or on the counter top is the best place for them.

Words of Wisdom : 

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.

If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.

A proud  Grand-poppa