Celebrate your child's love of learning

© Wondertime

This shapely fruit's been around since the dinosaur days.

Is your kid a pearmaniac? It's a real word. In 19th-century New England, there was such a craze for pears that the term "pearmania" was coined to describe it. Gentlemen farmers competed to produce the tastiest specimens and savored the fruits in the library — much as they would retire after dinner to smoke cigars. Once Californians began growing and shipping pears across the country by train, it was the birth of the populist pear.

If your child's enthusiasm for the fruit is less than manic, maybe he has yet to taste a good one.

Pear Quesadillas
Serves 4 (snack) or 2 (lunch)

2 ounces extra-sharp cheddar or Gruyere cheese, coarsely grated
2 (7-inch) flour tortillas
1/2 pear (any type), cored and sliced into 1/8-inch-thick wedges
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

Have your child sprinkle three-fourths of the cheese over one tortilla. Arrange the pear slices over the cheese and sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the pears. Top with the second tortilla.

Melt butter in a skillet until bubbling, then slide in the quesadilla. Cook over medium heat until the cheese begins to melt, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand 2 minutes before cutting into wedges.

What's Good for You
The protein in the cheese and the fiber in the pear help make this a healthy dish for kids. Protein is essential for growth, and fiber helps prevent constipation.

Baked Pears with Crumb Topping
Serves 2

1 ripe pear (Bosc, Anjou, or Bartlett)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the pear in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeded centers with a teaspoon or melon baller. Then spoon out most of the flesh onto a cutting board, leaving the pear shells intact. Put the shells in a baking dish. Chop the scooped pear into bite-sized pieces and transfer to a small bowl. Cut 1 tablespoon butter into small pieces and add to the bowl.

Your child can add the cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1 teaspoon brown sugar to the chopped pear mix and toss with a spoon. Then she can spoon the filling back into each pear half. Give her some aluminum foil and have her crumple it into balls, placing them around the pears to keep them from tipping.

Put the flour, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, and the salt in a small bowl. Let your child use her fingers to smush the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, then sprinkle half the topping over each pear.

Bake pears, uncovered, until the topping is golden brown, about 35 minutes. Cool 15 minutes before serving.

What's Good for You
Keep colds at bay? Yep, pears are a good source of vitamin C.

Play with Your Food

• Stage a pear-rolling contest: Each kid chooses a pear and lays it down at a starting line. Using only a plastic spoon, kids must roll their pears to the finish line.
• Have kids give pears faces by pushing whole cloves into them (if pears are too hard, use a toothpick to pierce them first). Arrange them in a bowl so that the faces peer out.
• Make fondue by melting a 14-ounce package of caramels with 2/3 cup of half-and-half and 1 tablespoon of butter in the microwave for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes. Stir, slice up a pear, and dunk away.

Fun Facts

• Perhaps they were a favorite of T. rex: Pears grew wild in prehistoric times.
• Pears ripen from the inside out so, unlike most fruits, they improve in flavor and texture after picking. (Put them in a paper bag to speed ripening.)