Pear and blue cheese bacon pizza

December is National Pear Month. Celebrate with a savory pear pizza as your main course.

December seems an odd month to honor any produce that isn?t a root vegetable. At least that?s what I thought until we recently attended a pear-focused luncheon at Chicago?s Blackbird. The event was hosted by Pear Bureau Northwest as part of an eight-city tour aimed primarily at helping people understand how to tell when pears are ripe and ready to eat. More about that later.

Skip to next paragraph Terry Boyd

Terry Boyd is the author of Blue Kitchen, a Chicago-based food blog for home cooks. His simple, eclectic cooking focuses on fresh ingredients, big flavors and a cheerful willingness to borrow ideas and techniques from all over the world. A frequent contributor to the Chicago Sun-Times, he writes weekly food pieces for cable station USA Network's Character Approved Blog. His recipes have also appeared on the Bon App?tit and Saveur websites.

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We were treated to a four-course meal by Chef de Cuisine David Posey that showcased pears? versatility, from pear and butternut squash soup with blis char roe enrobed in stout foam to leg of lamb with roasted pears, maitake mushrooms and hearts of palm and, for dessert, warm beignets with butterscotch, spiced brittle, pears and maple ice cream. We were also treated to lively conversation between delicious bites, much of it about food, but only a little of it about pears. Still, we came away knowing a great deal about this popular fruit.?

First, as we all try to eat more seasonally, the pears you see in the store now ? or in January or well into the spring, for that matter ? haven?t been grown in Chile or some other far-flung spot. They?re part of this fall?s US harvest. Pears ripen best off the tree, so they?re picked when mature, but not ripe, and kept in cold storage. While in cold storage, they don?t ripen, but do continue to convert starches to sugar, improving their flavor as they essentially hibernate. Once they show up on your supermarket?s non-refrigerated shelves, they begin to ripen.

So how do you know when they?re ready to eat? Skin color isn?t a reliable indicator. While Bartletts change from green to yellow as they ripen, most others show little change in color. The best way is to ?check the neck,? an idea so helpful that Pear Bureau Northwest has actually trademarked it. Pears ripen from the inside out, and the neck is the narrowest part. Using your thumb, apply gentle pressure to the neck or stem end. If it yields slightly, the pear is ripe.

If the pears at the store aren?t ripe yet, that?s okay. They?ll actually transport more easily ? a ripe pear?s skin is fragile ? and will ripen at room temperature in your kitchen. And if they?re ripening faster than you can use them all up, pop them in the fridge to slow the process.

We?re no strangers to cooking with pears here at Blue Kitchen. Sure, we?ve made desserts with them ? Baked Pears with Currants and Walnuts and Frangipane Pear and Cherry Cake were both big hits. We?ve also served them for breakfast as Ricotta Pancakes with Saut?ed Pears, for lunch in Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Pear Jalape?o Chutney and for dinner as Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Pears and Onions. We?ve even saut?ed them for a Valentine?s Day dinner of Duck Breasts with Pears and Shallots.

So the question wasn?t how to cook with pears, but rather what else to do with them. I had started down the pear cheese tart or galette path when Marion said, ?What about pizza?? After we both shuddered over college memories of pineapple on pizza, we agreed she was on to something.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/4J_SbZmXEyw/Pear-and-blue-cheese-bacon-pizza

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Review: Krups EA82 Automatic Espresso Maker Makes You Love To Love It

I was about to add this coffee maker (excuse me: espresso maker) to the Luddite gift guide but instead I felt it deserved special mention. As a fan of pod-based coffee-makers, I love almost everything about the EA82 - except its price. This thing is a dense block of coffee-creation goodness. Operation is simple - add some water, whole beans, and a cup. You select the type of coffee - espresso or regular - and press a button. The machine does everything from grinding the beans, heating the the milk and water, and blowing out delicious coffee with just the right top of frothy crema.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/2N29e2L8n2g/

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Plan would lift wages of home care workers (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Obama administration announced a plan Thursday to extend minimum wage and overtime protections to home health care workers, a move that would boost living standards for nearly 2 million domestic employees but could mean higher costs for the elderly and disabled.

President Barack Obama said it's inexcusable for in-home care employees to be paid less because "they're still lumped in the category as teenage baby sitters."

"They deserve to be treated fairly," Obama said at a White House ceremony surrounded by more than a dozen home health care workers. "They deserve to be paid fairly for a service that many older Americans couldn't live without."

It was the latest step taken by Obama to try to boost the economy without going through Congress.

Home health care aides have been exempt from federal wage laws since 1974, when they were considered companions to the elderly and compared to neighborhood baby sitters. But the number of full-time home care workers has surged, along with the growing number of retirees who need help with a range of daily tasks, from taking the right medication to getting cleaned and dressed.

Currently, 29 states don't require minimum wage or overtime for home health care workers.

"These are real jobs as part of a huge and growing industry," said Steve Edelstein, National Policy Director for the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute in New York. "They deserve same basic labor protections that other workers enjoy."

Unions and advocacy groups say nearly half of all home care workers live at or below the poverty level and receive public benefits such as food stamps and Medicaid. Poor working conditions, low wages and high turnover make it challenging to meet the growing demand to provide care for the elderly in their homes instead of in institutions.

More than 90 percent of home care workers are women. About 30 percent are black, and 12 percent are Hispanic.

With the size of the U.S. population over 65 expected to nearly double in the next 20 years, millions more will rely on long-term health care from domestic workers.

Health services companies that employ home care workers have opposed efforts to expand hour and wage laws, arguing that it would drive up costs for elderly clients who can ill afford it.

"We are in full support of adequate and fair wages of those doing such admirable work," said Jordan Lindsey, a spokesman for the California Association for Health Services at Home. "However, it needs to be carefully balanced with the unique needs of seniors and people with disabilities who need home care and keeping that type of care affordable."

For a patient with dementia who needs 24-hour care, for example, a family is currently allowed to pay home aides at a flat hourly rate. If overtime rules apply, Lindsey said, it could triple the cost of care.

Once the Labor Department formally proposes the new rules to extend wage laws to home health workers, there will be a 60-day period for public comments. The rules could take effect early next year.

The Clinton administration initially tried to extend federal wage rules to home aides, but President George W. Bush stopped the effort.

___

Follow Sam Hananel on Twitter at http://twitter.com/shananel

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_home_health_care

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Hand, foot, mouth disease kills 156 in Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) ? Vietnam says an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease has killed 156 people, mostly children, and sickened more than 96,000 through late November.

An official at the Ministry of Health says the average number of weekly cases dropped from about 3,000 in September to 2,460 in November.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel alert Monday urging people visiting Vietnam to protect themselves from the disease by practicing "healthy personal hygiene."

This year's outbreak is a sharp uptick from recent years. Since 2008, about 10,000 to 15,000 cases were reported per year with about 20 to 30 children dying annually.

The common childhood illness typically causes little more than a fever and rash, and most recover quickly.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2011-12-16-AS-Vietnam-Childhood-Virus/id-c05d7cfc6da648fd92938008dc80a094

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T.I. Says His Legal Troubles Kept Him From Signing Meek Mill ...

T.I. believes his back-to-back prison bids kept him from moving on signing Meek Mill to Grand Hustle?

T.I. is blaming his legal woes for not being able to sign Meek Mill to his Grand Hustle imprint before the up-and-coming rapper signed to Maybach Music Group.

?After my two [jail] hiatuses I was put in a position where I couldn?t really make moves on Meek as quick as he may have wanted to,? Tip told Billboard.com?s The Juice.

Instead, of course, Meek signed with Rick Ross? MMG, become an XXL Freshman and has had a huge year, scoring hits like ?I?ma Boss,? ?Tupac Back? and ?House Party? all before his solo effort with MMG.

?I never been one want to hold anyone back or to slow down the success of anybody,? T.I. continued. ?I?m the first to try to enhance what you have and if I can?t make it better then I shouldn?t be a part of it.?

Before signing to Ross? label, Meek got his feet wet while hanging out T.I., even making a cameo in the King of The South?s ?What Up, What?s Haapnin?? video. ?Jakinder Singh

Source: http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2011/12/t-i-says-his-legal-troubles-kept-him-from-signing-meek-mill/

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Cantor floats year-end trigger bargain (Politico)

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is quietly working both sides of the Capitol to build support for a plan to scale back automatic spending cuts and combine the proposal with a wide range of critical year-end tax and spending measures.

What it amounts to is a major year-end pitch: Democrats and President Barack Obama would get their much sought-after payroll tax cut extension and jobless benefits, while Republicans would tweak the Pentagon cuts that defense hawks hate.

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The White House has already sent out a warning against messing with these so-called trigger spending cuts born out of the deficit supercommittee?s failure, so it?s far from clear that Cantor?s maneuvering could win enough support on Capitol Hill.

Cantor has spoken to senators from both parties ? including a Thanksgiving morning phone call to the Stamford, Conn., home of Sen. Joe Lieberman ? as he gauges support for a potential package that would include up to $133 billion in spending cuts in exchange for delaying the first year of slashes to defense and nondefense programs slated to begin in 2013. That package could also include a reform and a yearlong extension of jobless benefits, a payroll tax break and the Medicare reimbursement rate for physicians.

Cantor has also reached out to the likes of Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Brad Dayspring, Cantor?s spokesman, said Cantor ?continues to talk to House and Senate members from both sides of the aisle in an effort find common ground on these important issues.?

Adding provisions overhauling the automatic cuts would be one of the more controversial ideas in a year-end package. And it could cause friction with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who is not in favor of touching the automatic cuts until next year.

It?s far from clear whether Cantor?s approach will gain steam in the final month of the year, given Obama?s veto threat.

But Pentagon advocates on Capitol Hill are starting to pressure Republican leaders to take a tougher line when demanding changes to the automatic cuts ? and some believe changing the triggered cuts could be a key bargaining chip in the messy year-end rush of legislating.

Other Republican leaders are taking a wait-and-see approach.

?I would say we are certainly not going to reduce spending any less ? but there is a lot of interest in considering next year a way to reallocate the spending reductions,? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told POLITICO on Wednesday. ?But we?re certainly opposed to reducing spending any less than $2.1 trillion that is included in the Budget Control Act.?

Asked if such changes could be done this year, McConnell smiled and shrugged, saying, ?I don?t know.?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1111_69489_html/43765363/SIG=11mb3k437/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/69489.html

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Maple says TMX deal could give OSC a pricing role (Reuters)

TORONTO (Reuters) ? The Canadian consortium seeking to buy TMX Group, operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, said on Thursday it could give regulators the right to supervise clearing and settlement prices in order to gain approval of the C$3.8 billion (C$3.76 billion) takeover deal.

Under its TMX takeover proposal, the Maple Group consortium of Canadian financial services companies wants to also buy Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS), which clears and settles trades in Canada. This aspect of the deal has spurred fears of an unfair monopoly, and Maple said it is ready to compromise to get the deal done.

"We will be announcing a model and a structure and so forth with regards to fees," Luc Bertrand, the public face of Maple and vice chairman of National Bank Financial, told a public hearing held by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).

"Our proposal would be that the model would be part of the recognition order, which, in our view, would give the commission the ... explicit responsibility on a go-forward basis to ... reject or approve fees."

Bertrand said Maple remains committed to a one-tier system that keeps fees accessible for all market participants.

Maple's offer to take over the TMX Group is contingent on it also getting regulatory approval to buy CDS as well as Alpha Group, TMX's top stock trading competitor.

"Our deal is based on getting regulatory approval for both. If we don't have Alpha or we don't have CDS there is no Maple transaction," Bertrand said in an oft-repeated pledge.

CDS handles all of the back-office processing of cash and securities after a trade is made, acting as a central counterparty for trades.

Opponents to the deal say that if Maple wants to integrate CDS, it should be forced to keep CDS's current cost-recovery model in place. CDS currently runs on a not-for-profit basis but Maple wants to make it a for-profit operation.

Handing oversight to regulators may allay concerns about Maple having monopoly control over pricing.

The concerns about fees were flagged earlier in the week by federal Competition Bureau Commissioner Melanie Aitken.

"Our work with the Competition Bureau continues and we will update the market on its progress at the appropriate time," Bertrand said.

In its submission to the OSC, the committee representing the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada said CDS clearing and settlement costs, among the lowest globally, would rise under a for-profit model.

"We're concerned the conflicts of interests they have can be used to limit access to the non-Maple members and drive prices higher," said Jeffrey Kennedy, spokesman for the IIROC committee and chief financial officer at Cormark Securities.

"The three issues are access, pricing and governance. What we're concerned about is the conflicts of interest from the investor dealer affiliates of the Maple Group."

Maple, comprised of 13 of Canada's most powerful financial institutions, stressed to the OSC that its proposal would benefit all market players.

The hearing continues on Friday.

($1=$1.01 Canadian)

(Editing by Peter Galloway)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111201/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_tmx_maple_hearing

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