Pears

Have you ever wondered about those red pears in the produce aisles at your local store? These jewels, known as Crimsons or Red Bartletts, have the same sweet, mellow flavor and smooth, juicy texture as yellow Bartletts, but sport ruddy skins. When they are to be used fresh, in salads or for eating out of hand, choose pears that are fully ripe, ones that will yield a little if probed with a finger. (Harder pears will ripen in a few days at room temperature.) However, for cooking, a slightly underripe pear is best.

Peaches and pears make a peach of a pair, and are plum delicious to boot. It's no wonder these perfect fruits' names add color and new meaning to our language. There are pips and pippins, and top bananas too, and many more I'm sure. But today I'm zeroing in on peaches and pears, those two delicate and delicious fruits, because once they reach their peak, they ripen quickly and must be used in a hurry or be wasted. Once they start to become soft, cut away any bad spots, peel if necessary, and slice them.

In autumn, when apples and pears are plentiful, one's first instinct might be to fold them into a pie or a turnover. But do not overlook the possibilities of working them into soups, salads, and meat dishes. Adding fruit to savory dishes might seem foreign to some cooks, but the practice isn't new. Thai chefs add pineapple to meat and rice dishes, the English drizzle gooseberry sauce on roasted pork, and the French, of course, have their duck a l'orange. The smell of baking apples wafting through a kitchen will warm anyone on a gusty fall day. The scent of baked pears may be less familiar, but I can assure you, it is no less inviting.

Like many of life's pleasures, pears require patience. If you bite into one before its prime, you'll get no clue about the delights to come. It will be crunchy and taste slightly sour - sensations more akin to an apple. Pears are harvested while still hard so they'll bruise less during shipping. But unlike most fruits, they continue to ripen after picking. Within a few days, they go from green and bland to lush, tender and sweet. That means you'll have to plan your pear pleasures.

Q: Can you tell me the difference between red Bartlett pears and Bosc pears, especially when it comes to cooking and serving them? I will have a lot of both from my in-laws this year, and any recipes would be appreciated. Best regards. - Joe F. A: Joe, when it comes to in-laws, it's better to have them drop off a couple of bushels of summer pears than to have them drop off a bunch of pear-shaped kids for the summer. You know I'm kidding . . . we all love our in-laws and their wonderful kids.

Homespun desserts ought to be warm, flavorful and eaten with a spoon. They can be enjoyed while your family is relaxing, and give a satisfying touch to the end of the day. Pear Clafouti (pronounced cla-foo-tee) is one of my favorite desserts. It is quick and simple to make. Your children, including your youngest, will find every step one they can easily master. Because of the easy steps to preparing clafouti, as well as its quick baking time, it can be made at the last minute.

Smell a fully ripe pear. The flowery perfume offers just a hint of the superior flavor within. To really appreciate these fall fruits, you have to bite into the firm flesh. Delicious as pears are eaten out of hand, they are also extremely versatile in cooking. At least three varieties are available now and each lends itself to specific dishes. Yellow Bartletts hold their shape well in cakes and compotes, where their taste is intensified. The flesh of russet-brown Bosc pears is smooth, buttery and slightly spicy - ideal for salads.

Back in LBM (Life Before Microwave), workers were faced with useless chunks of frozen chicken, sticks of stone-hard butter, raw potatoes with only 10 minutes to dinner and lots of pears that needed canning. Pears that needed canning? Sure. And apples and spaghetti sauce and peach flambe. The kitchen laborers were forced to haul out the big pots, sturdy tongs and a box of jars, then spend at least the whole afternoon dealing with the mess. But that was in the LBM, before the creation of Micro-Dome.

To reassure shoppers who are nervous about Chilean produce because two grapes out of a shipload of fruit were tainted by cyanide, many retailers are posting signs on fruit indicating its country of origin. But how can you tell where fruit came from if it isn't labeled? There are no exact rules for tracing fruit. But fruit wholesaler Mark Levin of M. Levin & Co. Inc. of Philadelphia offers some guidelines. There is a 99 percent chance that at this time of year the grapes you see on supermarket shelves came from Chile, Levin says.

Here are some cooking tips and techniques, several from the Food Network Kitchens: Mulled cider or wine When mulling ciders or wine, use whole spices - like cinnamon stick, allspice berries, peppercorns, star anise or mace blades. Whole spices are more potent and ground versions make these drinks look unpleasantly muddied. Ripe pears Some pears come to market rock hard, but if left at room temperature they will soften - tucking them into sealed paper bag with a banana speeds up the process.

2 apples 2 pears 1 pint blueberries 2 nectarines 2 peaches 1/4 to 1/3 cantaloupe or honeydew melon Juice and zest from one lemon   1. Wash tree fruit and berries; peel peaches and pears. 2. Cut fruit (except berries) into small pieces about ½ to ¾ inch long and combine in a bowl. 3. Add lemon zest and mix thoroughly. Add lemon juice so its acidity is balanced with the natural sweetness of the fruit. From the kitchen of Giuliana and Bob Pierson Per serving: 110 calories, 1 grams protein, 28 grams carbohydrates, 20 grams sugar, trace fat, no cholesterol, 2 milligrams sodium, 5 grams dietary fiber.

As crusty old cheeses go, Laguiole is a giant, a 90-pound wheel of natural-rind character from the Aubrac plateau in the region of Rouergue, in southern France, where it is said to have descended from a mountain monastery in the 12th century. Similar to Cantal, but far less mass-produced, the raw-milk curds of these massive cylinders are uncooked but broken and pressed twice. The process creates a pelletlike texture inside the fresh cheese that, even after the five or so months of good aging before they land in Philadelphia, is still evident in the interior, which is delightfully both crumbly and creamy.

The Honeycrisp has become the Kim Kardashian of the apple world: It came out of nowhere, relatively recently (it was released commercially in the '90s), and with some marketing brilliance, took the fruit world by storm. Of course, there's a good reason people keep coming back to the Honeycrisp. It's sweet, uncontroversial, and delicious. It flies off the shelves, and keeps really well, which is why growers love it, too. Sort of. "Honeycrisp is by far the favorite apple," says Melissa Allen of Beechwood Orchards in Adams County.

In autumn, when apples and pears are plentiful, one's first instinct might be to fold them into a pie or a turnover. But do not overlook the possibilities of working them into soups, salads, and meat dishes. Adding fruit to savory dishes might seem foreign to some cooks, but the practice isn't new. Thai chefs add pineapple to meat and rice dishes, the English drizzle gooseberry sauce on roasted pork, and the French, of course, have their duck a l'orange. The smell of baking apples wafting through a kitchen will warm anyone on a gusty fall day. The scent of baked pears may be less familiar, but I can assure you, it is no less inviting.

Whether you have a long-standing tradition of hosting a crowd on Christmas or are new to the pleasures and anxieties of that sort of get-together, preparation is the key to happy holiday hosting. ]There are many great make-ahead dishes that are festive, delicious and easy: sweet coffee cakes, fruit strudels, baked French toast, quiches, tortas, savory tarts, and stratas are all classics to prepare ahead and serve for company brunch on Christmas morning. Smoked fish or gravlax - served with dark bread and mustard sauce with a simple cucumber-and-onion salad - is another easy and elegant offering.

This recipe by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette, author of several cookbooks, published in Madeline Scherb's "A Taste of Heaven: A Guide to Food and Drink Made By Monks and Nuns" (Tarcher, $15.95) Scherb suggests using caramels from Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey in Dubuque, Iowa. These caramels can be purchased online at trappistine. com. BROTHER VICTOR'S PEAR CLAFOUTIS 3 eggs 1/2 cup sugar 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1 1/2 cups whole milk 2 tablespoons Cognac or pear brandy 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 6 ripe Bosc pears, peeled, halved, cored Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg 12 to 14 vanilla caramels, unwrapped 1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Good hard cider is pressing its case alongside the craft beer boom, and Ace Perry Cider is one of the most intriguing fruit brews to show up on tap handles around town. Made by the California Cider Co. in Sonoma County, this cider blends the juice of Gravenstein apples and pears before fermentation, and the result is crisp and refreshing, with a vivid orchard finish. It's a bit lighter than pure apple cider (not to mention most beers), and a shade drier than sweet fruit lambics like Lindemans, making it a great complement to food.

Q: Can you tell me the difference between red Bartlett pears and Bosc pears, especially when it comes to cooking and serving them? I will have a lot of both from my in-laws this year, and any recipes would be appreciated. Best regards. - Joe F. A: Joe, when it comes to in-laws, it's better to have them drop off a couple of bushels of summer pears than to have them drop off a bunch of pear-shaped kids for the summer. You know I'm kidding . . . we all love our in-laws and their wonderful kids.

Jim Barnes remembers David Fogleman the kid, as just a twentysomething pup, cooking with wide-eyed ambition at the Inn Keeper's Kitchen attached to his Dilworthtown Inn. "He was constantly using all these expensive ingredients, experimenting with new food items and flavors from [magazines like] Art Culinaire," says Barnes, whose clientele at the classic inn might be described as anything but "experimental. " "I told him, 'You're killing me [on food cost],' " Barnes said. " 'If you'd like to go put someone else out of business, please, call me back when you figure it out.' " Barnes retells the story with some glee now, several years later, only because Fogleman eventually did call him back.

Fine food, fabulous wines and flickering candlelight - for decades, the venerable Dilworthtown Inn has been one of Chester County's premier dining destinations. Now, with the opening of the Blue Pear Bistro next door last month - a general store turned casual 75-seat restaurant - the famed colonial-era inn has a dressed-down yet stylish younger sibling. "One is absolutely fine dining," says Jim Barnes. "The other, the Blue Pear, has a menu that's affordable and reads simple but with components that are quite complex.