Apple, Pear and Cranberry pie

YUM YUM YUM

Dough:

-1 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
-1/3 c shortening
-1 tsp sugar
-1 tsp salt
-3 c flour
-1/2 c ice water

This is a very easy pie crust, I promise! It's meant to be made in a food processor, but if your bowl isn't large enough you can just divide the ingredients in half.

Dice the butter and shortening and put it in the freezer for several minutes. While it's chilling, add the dry ingredients to the food processor and pulse a few times to mix it all up. Then, add the cold butter/shortening and pulse several times until you see pea-sized chunks all mixed up. Turn the processor on and slowly pour in the water until the dough begins to form a ball.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface (or cheat and use a Silpat, which is so handy), form a ball, divide in half, form that into two discs and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refridgerate for at least 30 minutes to let the dough rest and to keep the butter from melting.

Filling:

-3 large granny smith apples
-2 large anjou pears
-1/2 c craisins
-1/2 c sugar
-1/4 c flour
-Juice of 1 lemon
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp nutmeg
-1 tsp allspice

Soak the craisins in hot water for a few minutes, until they plump up. Drain off the water. Peel and slice the pears and apples, toss with the lemon juice in a bowl and let it sit for at least ten minutes (that lets the fruit drain off some of the liquid and your pie won't do that weird dome crust thing).

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt and spices. Add all of the fruit and the liquid, stir everything together.

Okay now I'm not going to get into the whole pie assembly bit because I doubt I could explain it well, so just assemble your pie as you see fit (remember to vent the top!). Personally, I can't crimp to save my life so I use those cute little leaf cut-outs to decorate the edges.

Whisk together one egg and two tablespoons of milk. Brush the egg wash over the pie and sprinkle the top with sugar (to make it nice and shiny!).

Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour, until everything is nice and golden brown. Cool completely before diving in!