Category Archives: USA Pears Contests

The Time is Ripe for Pears: Portland

Brittany By on

Last week, we brought The Time is Ripe for Pears tour to our hometown, Portland! On Thursday, we were treated to an amazing luncheon at Castagna, where the food looked more like art. Take the starter, for example. We were presented with this of-the-earth ceramic bowl (which I secretly wanted to smuggle home in my purse – after licking it clean, of course). The bowl contained drops of tangy yogurt, cubed Comice pear, and wisps of fennel. I was excited with this unusual starter, but it wasn’t done yet! Our server placed a box in the center of our table that contained little packets. Pear packets. No joke – they were made of dehydrated pear and filled with granola, and we were told to crumble them over our  yogurt. Gladly! The meal continued on in a similarly jaw-dropping fashion. One of Continue reading →

The Time is Ripe for Pears: Miami

Brittany By on

On our all-too-short tour stop in sunny Miami, we enjoyed friendly people, lots of great food, and of course, the sunshine! We dropped in at the Whole Foods Market in Coral Gables to sample ripe Bartlett, Starkrimson, and Bosc pears. Watch this fun video to see what our fans had to say about our pears: In the evening, we went to Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink in the design district for a decadent spread: four courses of pear desserts! We were on a sugar high for hours. And it wasn’t an ordinary sugar kick – we were treated to dishes by renowned pastry chef Hedy Goldsmith, a fellow pear fanatic. Watch this video to learn how she uses pears in her dishes:   Hedy also shared the recipe for her Pear Panini with Membrillo and Manchego. Inspired by Spain, this Continue reading →

The Time is Ripe for Pears: Atlanta

Brittany By on

We headed down South last week to visit Atlanta, home of the CNN Center, the world’s largest aquarium (!), and TONS of streets named “Peachtree.” Unfortunately, we didn’t find a single Peartree Street, but we met lots of welcoming and friendly pear fans! Watch this video to see how much Atlanta Kroger shoppers loved our pear-fectly ripe Bartlett, Starkrimson, and Bosc pears! We also enjoyed a delicious meal at Ecco Restaurant, where Chef Craig Richards told us what he finds most interesting about pears. You’ll have to watch this clip to find out! Chef Richards also shared his recipe for Pear and Buffalo Mozzarella Ravioli. Click here to see the entire recipe—believe me, you won’t want to overlook this! (Thanks to Broderick of Savory Exposure for the ravioli photo!) To top off an excellent tour stop, we had lunch at Continue reading →

The Time is Ripe for Pears: New York

Brittany By on

Well, we turned the Big Apple into the Big Pear for a few days! We had a great visit to New York City – we ate delicious food, shared ins-pear-ation with shoppers, and visited some of Manhattan’s most famous neighborhoods. At PUBLIC Restaurant, Chef Brad Farmerie shared the pear love – watch this video to hear what he thinks about pears! (Visit our YouTube page for another fun outtake with Chef Brad.) We also served up fresh pears at the Whole Foods Market in Tribeca, where shoppers raved about the sweet and juicy Bartletts. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by Ground Zero, home to a new memorial – and one very hardy pear tree! Unfortunately, tickets were sold out for the day, but we snapped a photo of the new buildings in progress.   Chef Brad Continue reading →

The Time is Ripe for Pears: Boston!

Brittany By on

Hello from Boston! We’re having a great time exploring the city and sharing pear recipes and ripening info (not to mention delicious pears!) with fellow pear fans on The Time is Ripe for Pears Tour. Here’s a quick glance at what we’ve seen so far: First stop: the Chelsea Market Basket, where we sampled perfectly ripe Starkrimson pears. They were a hit with shoppers of all ages! Next, we went to Faneuil Hall, where we lunched on lobster rolls (and remarked that they would have been better with pears). We also ventured out to Edward Everett Square in South Boston to snap a photo with this giant pear statue! Perry, our Anjou Pear, was quite happy to find a relative clear across the country. Check out this video to see what shoppers thought of our sweet and juicy Starkrimson pears! Continue reading →

Culinary Flair with the Pear

Brittany By on

Photo Credit: Jon Pesochin, www.jonbenjamin.ca Last Friday, breakfast disguised as dessert and dessert stole from salad. The three finalists of our third annual U.S. culinary student competition heated up the kitchen with their creativity, taking home newfound fame and fortune thanks to their flair with the pear. Chaz O’Neill’s Pomegranate Pear Stuffed Toast combined the naturally sweet flavors of (real) maple syrup, pear, and pomegranate in a dessert that looked like breakfast. Chaz, who hails from New England, prepared for the contest like a true student of cuisine, packing his secret ingredient—maple syrup from a local sugar shack—carefully in his suitcase. He was understandably nervous, then, when his luggage was lost in transit. Luckily, he received his suitcase (with maple syrup bottle intact) just two hours before he had to begin prepping his dish for the panel of prestigious foodservice Continue reading →

Liquid Pear-fection

Lynsey By on

The winners have been announced for this year’s USA Pear drink recipe contest in Hong Kong, and the results are refreshing!  The amateur mixologists are challenged to create an original, non-alcoholic drink recipe featuring USA Pears, for a chance to win gift cards to their supermarket of choice. For more USA Pear drink recipes, have a look at the winners from last year’s contest in Hong Kong, as well as the beverage recipe page on usapears.org.  You can also check out our pear-fect pear cocktails. Here’s the recipe for this year’s winner for “Most Delicious Anjou Pear Drink.” Winning drink:  “Fanaticism Anjou” Ingredients ½ of one Green or Red Anjou pear 2 slices ginger 100ml wheat grass juice Ice Cold water Directions  1) Peel, core, and slice the Anjou pears and ginger into small pieces 2) Mix ginger and water in a blender Continue reading →

Celebrating CNY with Flying Colors!

Lynsey By on

In honor of Chinese New Year, I thought we’d visit one of our Asian markets this week.  We recently held a coloring contest in Taiwan.  Sounds simple enough, right?  I know I participated in many a contest at my local grocery store growing up, for every holiday – even taking home 3rd place and $10 prize one year for my bunny and Easter egg masterpiece.  But Taiwan’s dense population (meaning, there’s a lot of people living in a relatively small amount of land) turned into 10,000 entries! Art professors and local artists judged the contest and announced 106 winners.  At first glance, you might not realize that each entry started with the same coloring sheet—so you can see that we received some very customized and creative entries! Don’t forget to pick up some Red Anjou pears for the year of the Continue reading →

Say Cheeeeeese!!!

Lynsey By on

As promised, Russia is back to work after the extended New Year holidays, and the results of the USA Pear photo contest are in!  If you remember our holiday photo contest in Colombia last year, it’s always interesting to see what people come up with and how they get creative. Here is my personal favorite, which just so happens to also be the grand prize winner!  Prizes included a netbook computer, iPods, and free pears. Here are a few other memorable entries, and you can view the top 20 finalists here. Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn

National Pear Month

Brittany By on

It’s National Pear Month! There aren’t any streamers or noisemakers in our office, unfortunately, but I started celebrating early today with a juicy, sweet Concorde pear. Every day this month, Lynsey, Cristie and I will be tweeting and posting to Facebook – be sure to visit our page for décor ideas, new recipes, and pear fun facts. Every Thursday in the month of December is Trivia Thursday on our Facebook page. Winners will have the chance to receive a box of fresh pears! Check back daily for lots of fresh ins-pear-ation! And snack on some pears! Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn