Tag Archives: travel

Epicurious Entertained

Brittany By on

Last week, I traveled to New York City with my co-workers to represent USA Pears at the second annual Epicurious Entertains NYC event. Let me tell you, Epicurious entertained! Cristie, Lynsey, and I had a great time sampling pears for New York foodies, chefs, and kids. Consumers were able to taste fresh Comice, Bosc, Bartlett, and Starkrimson pears—for some, it was their first time to taste the varieties fresh from the tree! On Friday, we watched legendary chef and cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey create dishes from her brand-new cookbook. She was followed up by Dorie Greenspan, who prepared her favorite recipes from her cookbook, Around My French Table. On Saturday, we partied, danced, and snacked with kids! They sampled fresh pears, took home a ripe Bartlett in their pear packers, and decorated aprons on the roof deck. These kids loved Continue reading →

Bosco Sails the South China Sea

Lynsey By on

On my last day in Hong Kong, I grabbed Bosco and took a ride on the Star Ferry across the incredible Victoria Harbour.  The 10-minute ride cost me only 2.50 Hong Kong Dollars, which is about $0.32 in the U.S. (Bosco rode free), and provided spectacular views of the impressive city skyline. In Hong Kong, the wet market is a popular place to buy fresh foods, fruits, and vegetables, which of course includes pears!  The name comes from the fact that the floors are typically sprayed down with water to keep things clean.  There are many stalls, each offering an assortment of products.  Customers are looking for freshness, quality, and more variety than what is usually found in a grocery store.  The indoor market that I visited also provided air conditioning – a nice break from the humidity! Facebook Twitter Continue reading →

Celebrating the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

Lynsey By on

Greetings from Hong Kong! I’m wrapping up a two week tour of visiting the markets in Southeast Asia. It will be a few more weeks until the ships arrive with the first USA Pears of the season, but I have learned a lot on this trip to help prepare for the new crop! In Singapore and Hong Kong especially, the Chinese population is getting ready for the Mid-Autumn Festival. To celebrate, streets are decorated with lanterns, and typical foods include mooncakes – which are made from lotus seed paste – and pomelos. Look familiar? They look like giant Green Anjou pears! Pomelos, however, have a thick rind and the fruit itself is made up of wedges, like an orange or other citrus fruit. There is such a wide variety of tropical fruits available in these markets, so it was fun Continue reading →

Growing Regions: Yakima

Brittany By on

We’re still waiting—very, very patiently—for this season’s fresh pear harvest to start. USA Pears should be popping up on supermarket shelves in the next few weeks, and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into a juicy, sweet Bartlett! In the meantime, let’s take a look at another of our fertile growing regions: Yakima. Like many of our growing regions, the Yakima Valley is known for its rich soil, mild climate, and open spaces, which combine to make the valley a perfect location to grow beautiful USA Pears, along with asparagus, cherries, apples, pumpkins, and dozens of other delicious fruits and vegetables. Oh, and let’s not forget the wine! Yakima is home to many local, award-winning wineries. The valley lies in the same latitude as France’s famous vineyards, making for the perfect birthplace of great wine varietals. It’s a great Continue reading →

Growing Regions: Wenatchee

Brittany By on

The last of the 2009–10 pear crop is on grocery shelves, but at Pear Bureau Northwest, we’re already gearing up for a new season of fresh USA Pears!  Our four growing regions are eagerly anticipating the fresh pears they’ll be harvesting in just a few weeks. In the meantime, we’d like to introduce you to the rich, fertile growing regions that produce USA Pears. First up: Wenatchee, Washington. The Wenatchee Valley is nestled in the heart of Washington state, with Seattle a few hours to the west and Spokane a few hours east. The valley is known for its abundance of tree fruit orchards (pears, apples, and cherries) and local wineries. The Columbia River flows nearby, providing ample opportunities to fish, raft, and hike along its banks. Wenatchee is a great place to get away for a weekend—you’ll find everything Continue reading →

USA Pears Hit the Slopes

Brittany By on

It may be summer, but there’s still snow on the mountains, and you can bet Olympic skier Torin Koos is there to enjoy it! From June 18–22, skiers of all ages joined Torin on the slopes of Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Oregon to brush up on their skiing skills and have fun at Bend Camp. Bend Camp is a long-running tradition that invites Nordic skiers to train on snow and land with professional skiers. This year, skiers including Torin, Lars Flora, and Kristina Strandberg instructed campers, and Torin invited USA Pears to camp, too! As you can see, Perry was happy to join in the fun—he even made a new four-legged friend! It was a pear-fect start to the summer. Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn

A Pear in Provence

Amy Kweller MS, RD By on

This month, while traveling through the Provence region of France, specifically the Côtes du Rhône wine region, I had the opportunity to taste magnificent food, delicate wines, and absorb the gourmet culture of the French countryside. There, the French have a particular way of enjoying life: fresh fruits and vegetables from open air markets, a healthy dose of wine, and a slower pace. The climate is perfect for growing Mediterranean fruits – warm, fairly dry, and sun-baked. Provençal wines are frequently paired with fruits grown in the region – pears, melons, apricots, etc. Pairing fruit with wine has been a worldwide tradition for centuries; pears, for instance, are a nice combination with red, white, or rosé wines, and are exceptionally pleasant matched with dessert wines. In addition to the benefit for your palate, a moderate amount of wine has particular Continue reading →

USA Pears Go to Washington

Lynsey By on

Even though it’s tempting to keep our delicious USA Pears to ourselves here in the U.S., we know that it’s impolite not to share!  That’s why we work to make sure that USA Pears are available around the world so that as many people as possible can enjoy.  We have representatives working in 38 countries so that people like you can buy USA Pears at local supermarkets, traditional markets and fruit shops across the globe. Last week we held meetings in Washington, DC, inviting 24 of our representatives from 18 different countries to visit our nation’s capital city and discuss USA Pears.  It also provided the opportunity to meet with all of these wonderful people, old and new friends in the USA Pear family.  We even had a special guest join us for a group photo op on Capitol Hill Continue reading →