Among my most beloved of personal obsessions - and not so guilty pleasures - are Royal Riviera Pears from Harry & David.  Not so guilty because hey, fruit is good for you (or at least better for you than brownies or Creme Brulée, both of which qualify as obsessions and very guilty pleasures!).

I’ll never forget the first time I experienced a Royal Riviera Pear. It was 15 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.

A family friend sent us a box of these pears for Christmas. I remember thinking “Big whoop, yet ANOTHER box of fruit, just like all the others.” So I casually grabbed one and took a bite.

Oh my.  This was no ordinary pear!

It was fruit the way it used to be, before factory farming and big agribusiness. It wasn't that these pears were gorgeous. Heck, most fruit looks too perfect to be true these days, and most of it tastes more like plastic fruit than the real thing! 

What made those Royal Riviera Pears so special was the flavor - sweet as candy but not cloying. And the smell - heady with the fresh, soft fragrance of real pears.  And the texture was meltingly soft and juicy. No need to sugar these pears or bake them, no need to poach in white wine… they were sheer perfection in all their simple glory.

Well, that big box of pears was savored slowly, but it was gone all too soon. Since then I’ve been not only a Harry and David fan, but a fanatically loyal customer.

Yes, Harry and David make all kinds of other incredible goodies, including decadent truffles (as far as I'm concerned, they beat Godiva hands down).

But for me, it will always and forever be the pears!

If you happen to hit the Harry and David website at the right time, you can get two boxes of these stunningly delicious pears for a song. By the way, they really do keep well, but trust me, they’ll be gone long before you have to worry about it. 

Isn't it about time you found out what a real pear tastes like?