Kids Club Vol. 24: Pears
KIDS CLUB
VOLUME 24
Welcome to the latest issue of our ChopChop Kids Club newsletter!
Welcome to the latest ChopChop Kids Club newsletter!
This month we’re eating pears! Plus doing a lot more with them—like ripening them, drawing them, learning from and about them, and turning them into jokes and riddles. Do you know your favorite kind of pear? The firm, brown Bosc? The yellowish and fragrant Bartlett? The juicy green D’Anjou? The crisp Asian apple-pear? Or do you like them all? Drop us a line and let us know.
And have a healthy, happy Thanksgiving.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
- RECIPE
Juicy Pear Smoothie
Juicy Pear Smoothie
kitchen gear
- Cutting board
- Sharp knife (adult needed)
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Citrus zester or grater
- Blender (adult needed)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 1 very ripe pear, quartered and cored
- 1/2 overripe banana
- Juice and grated zest of 1/4 lemon
- 3 ice cubes
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients in the blender.
- Put the top on tightly. Turn the blender to a medium setting and blend until the ice is chopped and the mixture is smooth, 30 to 60 seconds.
- Divide the smoothie equally between 2 glasses and serve right away, or store in a thermos or other covered container in the refrigerator up to 4 hours.
Notes
- KITCHEN SKILL
Plan Ahead Frozen Bananas
To help make any smoothie colder and thicker, it’s great to have slices of frozen banana ready to go. And it’s easy!
1. Peel an overripe banana.
2. Slice it into thin rounds, put the rounds on a plate, and put the plate in the freezer.
3. When the banana is frozen solid (about 2 hours), put the slices in a resealable plastic bag and put it in the freezer.
- KITCHEN SCIENCE
Pear Ripening
Pears can ripen even after they’ve been picked! Keep them at room temperature, with a banana nearby. The banana gives off ethylene, a gas that speeds up the ripening. Experiment by putting 1 hard pear in a paper bag by itself and 1 in a paper bag with a banana. Check the pears every day. What do you notice?
According to Guinness World Records, the heaviest pear ever weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces, and was grown in Japan in 2011.
- FUN WITH WORDS
Edible vocabulary
The word pyriform means pear-shaped.- Have you ever noticed that pears have a slightly gritty texture? That’s because they contain sclereids, also known as stone cells.
- Most pear trees are deciduous, which means that unlike evergreen trees (such as pine and fir), they lose their leaves in the fall
PRACTICE GRATITUDE
Thanks to Thanksgiving, November is a month when you might be feeling especially thankful! If you sit down to eat a holiday meal with your family, take a moment, before you start passing those dishes around the table, to say what you’re thankful for, and encourage everyone else to do the same. Psychologists who study the practice of giving thanks have found that it’s linked to better health, improved sleep, greater kindness, and more general happiness. And that’s a lot to be grateful for!
Food History
Traces of pears have been found at prehistoric stilt-house sites across Switzerland—and some of those sites date back to 5000 BC! That means people have been eating pears for at least 7000 years.
- TRY THIS NOW
Botanical Illustration
Cut a pear in half, from its stem to its bottom. Put one half cut-side down on the cutting board and the other half cut-side up, and draw them both: the shape, the core, the seeds, the stem, any other parts you see. Use a pencil or pen, and fill it in with watercolors, crayons, markers, or colored pencils if you like. Then label your drawing, looking up the parts of the pear if there are any you don’t know. You can eat the pear when you’re done!
