One lovely autumn day long, long ago, my Grandma, the dearest stubbornest little old Chinese lady that ever was, decided enough was enough! She had waited and watched over the large pear tree in our neighbor's yard, just drooping with ripe juicy fruit, for days upon days. Our neighbors evinced no interest at all in their luscious pears and they were starting to fall to the ground and rot.
Waste not, want not was ever my Grandma's motto, and so very early that morning she, a little old Chinese lady armed with a big long stick, marched over to our neighbor's garden fence and began to knock those juicy pears right out of the tree. Whatever fell outside the fence was hers and she came proudly home that day with huge bagfuls of pears.
My 爸爸 was so exasperated! "You could have been shot!" he huffed. But Grandma didn't care one whiff and soon a delicious potful of Chinese Pear Herbal Tonic Soup 川貝燉雪梨 was simmering on the stove. I still remember that first golden spoonful of deliciously sweet, light, soothing soup. Just the thing to sooth and heal sniffles and a cough. There's really nothing quite like Grandma's pear soup!
