What's Cooking?

Pears are what's cooking this week - Pear Butter, Pear Preserves, and Pear Sauce to be exact.  It's back to canning after last week's mammoth Fill the Freezer effort.

We are very fortunate to have friends who have pear trees and who are generous with their fruit.  My Momma and I went pear picking this past week and while I canned the bounty, she had only one thing on her mind - to sugar and freeze sliced pears for pear pie.  Mmmmm.....

If you have never had pear pie, that's a shame.  There is a downside to pear pie:  after tasting it, you will forever be spoiled and apple pie will from then on taste somewhat inferior.

Here is my Momma's non-recipe for Pear Pie (the apple, or um, pear doesn't fall far from the tree):

Momma's Pear Pie

Pears
Sugar
2 Pie Crusts
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Lemon Juice
Butter
Flour

Wash, quarter, core, peel, and slice your pears.  Put the in a pan with a little water and cook down until soft.*

Drain most of the liquid off of the pears.  Put pears into a bowl with a pinch of flour, a good bit of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, a squirt of lemon juice, a couple of Teaspoons of butter, and sugar to taste.  Give it a good stir.

Lay your first crust in a pie pan (make sure to prick the bottom with a fork).  Pour over the pear filling until level with the top of the pie pan.**  Put a couple of butter pats on top.

Slice your second crust into strips and lay over pie filling in a lattice pattern.  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the top crust.  Bake at 400F for 10-15 then drop the temperature to 300F for 45min-1hr. 

Check the pie about 30 minutes into baking to see if the crust is getting too brown.  If so, put a piece of foil over the top.

Serve with ice cream.  Serve it hot.  Serve it cold.  Serve it in a box with a fox...  It doesn't matter how you serve it, just serve it!

*You could stop here and put them in freezer bags so that they are ready to be made into pie later.
** Any leftover filling could be poured over pound cake or ice cream.

Don't forget the Carmex giveaway!
This is part of Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday.