Winter-Pear Pies

Now that juicy, meaty fresh pears are available the winter through, you can bake pear pies from late summer, when the Bartletts are ripe in many places, until May. Try using Bosc pears, the fruit with a rich russet exterior and tender, buttery, sugar-sweet flesh, or the Anjou variety, the pear shaped like a huge teardrop. The Anjou is green, but turns a creamy-yellow when ripe, is fine-grained and has a delicate spicy flavor. It is available from October through April, the Bosc from September through January. Either kind will make a perfect Ginger Pear Pie.