Pear Apple Pie

All of our fruit trees are self-pollinating dwarf varieties and the peach tree is REALLY dwarf at about 4 foot tall and 4 foot wide.


Walnut, Pear, Plum, Peach


Last year, we had winter rains and more fruit than we knew what to do with. This year, we had NO winter rains and consequently there was nothing for the wildlife to eat. The trees all bloomed nicely, were setting a decent amount of fruit and we had all of them covered completely with bird netting. The first to bear each year is the Santa Rosa plum tree. It had about 40-50 nice plums that I was preparing to harvest in a couple of days because they were almost ripe. The next morning, most of them were gone; the day after that, the rest were gone. Next, the peach tree would be ready to harvest. Something ate the peaches, still green, right down to the pits while still on the branches; didn't get one. Finally, the Kieffer pear tree ripens. Most got pecked and eaten in spite of the bird netting but I was able to pick THREE pears and they were big! Woo-Hoo!! Oh well, glad I wasn't trying to feed my family from the fruit tree harvest this year. Like I've said before, the critters must have needed it more than we did because of the dry winter.

I DID get to make a Pear Apple Pie with a Streusel topping yesterday! :) The three pears yielded almost six cups of fruit so I only had to add a couple of apples. The apples came from my friend's tree.

Filling
Thinly sliced, peeled pears and apples to equal 8 cups
1/2 to 2/3 cup sugar, depending on the sweetness of your fruit
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Apple Pie spice
Pastry for a Single-Crust pie

Streusel Topping
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon Apple Pie spice
1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the pastry. In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients and mix well, let stand about 10 minutes to develop juices. Pour filling ingredients into pastry lined pie plate. In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar and Apple Pie spice; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of the pie.

To prevent overbrowning, cover the edge of the pie with strips of foil or use a pie crust shield. I bought a set of these several years ago and they make life so much easier!!

Bake for 25 minutes then remove shield and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes until the top is golden brown and the fruit tests done when pierced with a knife.

I was really pleased that I got to use the pears for such a yummy pie! :)