I love the Autumn season because it brings a bountiful harvest. We usually head up to San Juan Island a few times each Fall for the pear and apple harvest from my in-law’s orchard. Sometimes, Fall brings the fish and we can go out on the boat and catch Salmon. It all depends on the year and when the Salmon are running.
I shared this summer about my in-law’s amazing abilities to store their harvest and one of our family favorites is making apple cider. Not only do we get to help make the cider on a 100 year old press, but we take home gallons and gallons of fresh apple cider that we store in our freezer to enjoy year round.
Using a mixed variety of different apples makes the best cider. We did a combination of Gravenstein and Acane for this batch.
Making the Apple cider is a family affair, everyone has a job.
The apple cider pouring out of the 100 year old cider press. Yummy.
Note: The cider press was acquired by my husband’s grandmother as “payment” for accounts in arrears for their metal working business. Or as the story goes, she just went and nabbed it. Quite ingenuous!
Pouring the cider into recycled plastic jugs for freezing.
Usually during the same trip, we harvest a bunch of pears from the orchard. Look at all those yummy canned pears, another family activity.
If we are lucky, I get to take home a portion of pears for eating and making the best pie you’ll ever taste: Pear Crumble Pie. It is something I look forward to every year. Trust me, you will want to try this!
Start by making your crust. I like making an egg vinegar pie crust, like this one from The Pioneer Woman (except I use butter instead of shortening). So flaky and perfect for the pears.
I use plastic wrap to sandwich my crust as I roll it out, because the egg vinegar pie crust is so sticky.
After the crust is ready, combine the crumble ingredients.
Now it’s time to peel and slice the pears. Using a 1/2 teaspoon to scoop out the seeds, makes it so easy!
Add the flour, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar to the pears. The lemon brings another element to this pie- the perfect citrus to accompany the pear.
Save a few pears to layer in a pretty circle on top before sprinkling the crumble topping on.
Look at that pie! It is rustic on the outside but velvety inside.
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- 6-8 medium ripe pears
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup sugar (divided)
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup butter
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 1 9″ pie
Delicious pie with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top – every thing is good in my world.