Ah, winter. Seattle's color palate is dominated by grey, dark grey, and very dark grey. Today is the shortest day of the year (fingers crossed that it's not the last day ever). Sunset is officially at 4:20, but it'll start getting dark by 3:30. And the endless winter drizzle, which will last until May at least, has begun in earnest.
So...it's absolutely necessary to brighten the winter days with some warm, sticky, delicious pie. Pear pie is one of my favorites. I first made it last Christmas instead of the apple pie I usually bake, and, although it's almost blasphemous to say in my family (we really care about pie), I actually prefer pear to apple.