Thanksgiving Hotline: Recipes, Rescue and Support!

[3113]

As a group of someones here (who shall remain nameless, but you know who you are), have joined the stores in stampeding toward the Yuletide season, skipping entirely one essential autumnal day in the U.S.--

http://fragranceoftruth.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/rockwell_thanksgiving.jpg​

[Norman Rockwell, bitches!]

....I thought I'd better hurry up and post this so citizens of the U.S. of A. can exchange advice and ideas on dealing with said day. Yes, that's right American Citizens, you don't get to trim the tree or sing carols yet! There's eating be done! Relatives you haven't seen in a year to face! Football to watch! Turkey day is around the corner! You need to learn how to deep fry that bird, mess up and set the house on fire! Use this thread to...

*Get that much needed recipe for cornbread stuffing!
*Learn how to play football so you can cheer the game on with all the guys hanging around the flatscreen!
*Share a favorite cranberry sauce recipe! Gush about your pumpkin pie!
*Find out how to deal with that aunt who is always trying to convince you to change your sexual orientation. We've got trained therapists and wise-crackers to give you witty rejoinders.
*Deal with a ruined turkey! We've got a shoulder for you to cry on and advice on how to replace it with tofu and drown it in one of our many gravy recipes!

We've got answers and thoughts on everything here at the Thanksgiving recipes, rescue and support thread! Happy Turkey Day!

http://frozenassets.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/thanksgiving-plate-entert1106-de1.jpg​

 

[Chantilyvamp]

I am in need of a good tried and tested recipe for southern conrbread stuffing hopefully with bacon in it.

 

[SweetWitch]

I am in need of a good tried and tested recipe for southern conrbread stuffing hopefully with bacon in it.

Sorry. All I have is my grandmother's sage dressing. It's a pain in the butt to make, but it's as tasty as anything a grandma can make. Gran's bringing her famous pecan pie. Can't wait.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

My turkey never looks like this. Are you sure you are supposed to boil them?

 

[SweetWitch]

My turkey never looks like this. Are you sure you are supposed to boil them?

I put mine in the microwave.

 

[driphoney]

My turkey never looks like this. Are you sure you are supposed to boil them?

I put mine in the microwave.

I get mine already cooked at Kroger's ... then I microwave it.

 

[lance gt]

I make a mix of butter w/ minced garlic, pepper and salt. I lift the skin and rub it over the meat. Then I'll either stuff it or cook it as usual. The last 15 mins. I'll take the foil covering off and let it get golden skinned.

 

[3113]

I am in need of a good tried and tested recipe for southern conrbread stuffing hopefully with bacon in it.

Ah-Ha! Our first Emergency! (flipping on the swirling red light and siren!) On our way!

Okay. I found Southern Cornbread stuffing recipes, and I found recipes for stuffing with bacon, but very few with both. So, I'm gonna post the Southern "Dressing" recipe--evidently very authentic (Southern style requires, evidently, some white bread and/or crackers, also eggs, savory cornbread--rather than sweet--and that you crumble the cornbread rather than cube it), and a recipe for straight-up cornbread stuffing with bacon.

I think you can easily incorporate bacon to the Southern Cornbread stuffing. In the bacon stuffing recipe, you saute the veggies with the bacon so they, too, have bacon flavor. I don't know, however, if you're more interested in the stuffing being "Southern" or being "bacon" so here's both

Southern Style Cornbread Dressing:
1 pan cornbread
7 slices oven-dried white bread
32 saltine crackers (1 sleeve) ***if using bacon, you might want to go plain rather than salted on these***
8 tablespoons butter
2 cups celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
7 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sage (optional)
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (optional)
5 eggs, beaten

Directions
*Preheat oven to 350°F.
*combine crumbled cornbread, dried white bread slices, and saltines
*(If using bacon, I'd go for about 8 slices; fry it up moderate heat for 10 minutes till it starts to brown. Pour off bacon fat)
*Melt butter and saute celery and onion until transparent 5 to 10 minutes (and bacon is crisp and easily broken up)
*Add veggie (bacon) mix to cornbread mixture.
*Add stock. Mix, taste, and add salt, pepper, sage, and poultry seasoning.
*Add beaten eggs and mix well.
*Pour mixture into a greased pan and bake 45 minutes.

Cornbread Stuffing with Bacon:
2 loavesCorn Bread
6 large celery ribs
1 pound onions (about 2 large)
1 pound sliced bacon
1/2 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs such as thyme, sage, rosemary, and/or marjoram or 2 tablespoons mixed dried herbs, crumbled
1 cup Turkey Giblet Stock or chicken broth
1/4 cup reserved fat from roast turkey or melted butter

*Preheat oven to 325° F. and butter a 4-quart baking dish.
*Cut corn bread into 1/2-inch cubes and dry in 2 large shallow baking pans in oven 20 minutes.
*Remove corn bread from oven and leave oven at 325° F. Coarsely chop separately celery, onions, and bacon.
*sauté bacon stirring, until browned, about 10 minutes.
*Add celery and onions and cook, stirring, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.
*Add herbs and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
*Toss together corn bread and bacon mixture and transfer to baking dish.
*Drizzle stock or broth over stuffing and bake, covered, 1 hour.
*Drizzle reserved fat or butter over stuffing and bake, uncovered, in upper third of oven 30 minutes more, or until top is golden.

 

[lance gt]

Ah-Ha! Our first Emergency! (flipping on the swirling red light and siren!) On our way!

Okay. I found Southern Cornbread stuffing recipes, and I found recipes for stuffing with bacon, but very few with both. So, I'm gonna post the Southern "Dressing" recipe--evidently very authentic (Southern style requires, evidently, some white bread and/or crackers, also eggs, savory cornbread--rather than sweet--and that you crumble the cornbread rather than cube it), and a recipe for straight-up cornbread stuffing with bacon.

I think you can easily incorporate bacon to the Southern Cornbread stuffing. In the bacon stuffing recipe, you saute the veggies with the bacon so they, too, have bacon flavor. I don't know, however, if you're more interested in the stuffing being "Southern" or being "bacon" so here's both

Southern Style Cornbread Dressing:
1 pan cornbread
7 slices oven-dried white bread
32 saltine crackers (1 sleeve) ***if using bacon, you might want to go plain rather than salted on these***
8 tablespoons butter
2 cups celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
7 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sage (optional)
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (optional)
5 eggs, beaten

Directions
*Preheat oven to 350°F.
*combine crumbled cornbread, dried white bread slices, and saltines
*(If using bacon, I'd go for about 8 slices; fry it up moderate heat for 10 minutes till it starts to brown. Pour off bacon fat)
*Melt butter and saute celery and onion until transparent 5 to 10 minutes (and bacon is crisp and easily broken up)
*Add veggie (bacon) mix to cornbread mixture.
*Add stock. Mix, taste, and add salt, pepper, sage, and poultry seasoning.
*Add beaten eggs and mix well.
*Pour mixture into a greased pan and bake 45 minutes.

Cornbread Stuffing with Bacon:
2 loavesCorn Bread
6 large celery ribs
1 pound onions (about 2 large)
1 pound sliced bacon
1/2 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs such as thyme, sage, rosemary, and/or marjoram or 2 tablespoons mixed dried herbs, crumbled
1 cup Turkey Giblet Stock or chicken broth
1/4 cup reserved fat from roast turkey or melted butter

*Preheat oven to 325° F. and butter a 4-quart baking dish.
*Cut corn bread into 1/2-inch cubes and dry in 2 large shallow baking pans in oven 20 minutes.
*Remove corn bread from oven and leave oven at 325° F. Coarsely chop separately celery, onions, and bacon.
*sauté bacon stirring, until browned, about 10 minutes.
*Add celery and onions and cook, stirring, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.
*Add herbs and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
*Toss together corn bread and bacon mixture and transfer to baking dish.
*Drizzle stock or broth over stuffing and bake, covered, 1 hour.
*Drizzle reserved fat or butter over stuffing and bake, uncovered, in upper third of oven 30 minutes more, or until top is golden.

This needs to go in the Recipe thread for everyone to use, sounds great

 

[3113]

Apple Pie!

Okay, here's a question:

Best Apple Pie Recipe? I suspect it's just the fact that we don't have very good apples here in California, but my apple pies are never as good as they ought to be. The apples are often underdone, and there's never enough "juice."

To me, a really good apple pie is one where the apple is cooked through, neither raw apple nor apple-sauce mush (toothsome!), and there's just the right amount of "juice"--thickened, but not gooey, and not taking over the pie (some pies are more goo then apple! ).

It should be tart-sweet, very apple in flavor with a hint of spices. Nice flakey crust.

Thoughts? Recipes? Advice? Especially on how to get the perfect mix of apples here in non-apple friendly CA.

http://www.colleenhammond.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/apple-pie.jpg

 

[driphoney]

Okay, okay. I've figured out why I would prefer to skip my favorite holiday this year: men.

Yep. We are a female loaded family. It's worked for us, pretty much. But this year, many of these women are bringing strange men. It's worrisome. The place is the size of a shoebox. Imagine men awkwardly staring at each other in the livingroom, jammed shoulder to shoulder on couches. Some will want football, others will have to be polite and endure it. All will be politely doing their duty for The Cause of Sex Later.

Now imagine the conversation:

"So Bob. Where do you work?"

"Oh, I'm an international contract attorney for Raytheon. And yourself?" He straightens his tie, then sneezes because he's allergic to the dog.

"I'm a freelance hair dresser and teach environmental science part-time."

They glower at each other.

Watching the other two, Jim balances on his undersized fold-away chair hoping they get the food on the table soon because he's got to get back to the farm for the 5 o'clock milking.

Then there's the food, the offers for help, the fact the kitchen barely fits two adults.

UGHH!

At least the food's fantastic.

Ms. Thanksgiving, since un-inviting them isn't an option, what advice do you have?

tya

 

[3113]

Ms. Thanksgiving, since un-inviting them isn't an option, what advice do you have?

1) Prepare the house like a battle ground! Use every inch, every room. Where will the television go? Where will the bar be? Where can pies and deserts and coffee be set out? Any outdoor area that might be used (portable heaters can allow people to hang outside if it's very cold)? However tiny the place, find ways for people to have a change of scenery (a slide show on the computer monitor and soft music might help, too). Move stuff (like bookcases or desks) out to the garage (if you have one) in order to open up more space.

2) Dedicate a room (bedroom) or corner of a room with a television; this is the football area. Put plenty of fold-out chairs around it and an ice chest of beer. That solves half the problem. Men bond over sports. It's the universal peace-treaty between XY types. Even if they hate each other, they can watch sports together.

3) Place cards! Make up place cards and seat people where you want them rather than letting them sit willy-nilly. Put people who know each other or are friends or just have the same politics together. Don't try to put strangers together because you think they'll like each other --go for known quantities. So-and-So knows Such-and-Such from a prior party and they get along. So the men get seated across from men they might like, and next to their lady. Thus, you keep Mr. Environment at one end of the table and Mr. Attorney at the other end, with ladies in between to keep the conversations going.

Oh, and Jim needing to milk the cows isn't your problem. Dinner is when dinner is and what he wants or needs to do is up to him.

4) Put the men to work! Find out ahead of time what they might like doing--from Feng shui furniture re-arranging to bartending. Just make sure you give them assignments rather than letting them bump around asking, "Can I help?" For example, do you have a fireplace? Men love to start fires. Put two or three of them on fire making duty. Or let them flex their muscles by moving around chairs, couches, tables. Re-arranging the television room.

Other tasks for ladies and men: have them set the table, put up decorations, put out before-dinner-snacks, set up the coffee pot on that side table and start the coffee brewing. Arrange the pies on that side table for dessert. Pour cranberry sauce into its boat on the table, put out butter, water, wine, etc.

One Rule to remember, you are never going to keep people out of the kitchen. So have chairs in there and busywork for those who can't seem to stay out. Like arranging flowers, or making pretty butter pats, folding napkins, filling a bread basket. If you do need to give them a cooking task, make sure you provide a recipe that they have to follow--like a gravy recipe--and all the ingredients already measured outy. They'll think they're helping, but they're just staying out of the way

5) Have a deck of cards and/or a computer game that two can play available. Encourage one of the ladies to start a card game or point out the computer game to men looking bored and annoyed.

6) Booze. When all else fails, mellow them out with liquor (yet another job for one of the men--bartender!). If possible set up a corner with bottles of liquor/wine and glasses and have someone play bartender. Have wine on the table (white and red), and make sure to have a toast ready to offer, welcoming everyone to the family dinner and how thankful the family is to have them. (This may shame them into behaving).

7) Last but not least, make sure dinner is carbohydrate heavy. Which will make everyone sleepy and want to leave.

Helpful?

 

[3113]

Left-Overs!

Oh, one last, last thing....

Have plenty of plastic containers and bags. After dinner, put everyone on clean-up duty, giving over the table to a "left-over" crew. Make sure left-overs get sent off with each couple. (This, by the way, is one solution for Jim there. Have his lady make up his left-over package ahead of time, while you're plating the turkey and stuffing and such. That way, even if Jim can't finish the meal, he'll still get to enjoy it later at home--a slice or two of pie included).

A goodie bag of left-overs to enjoy will fool these guys into thinking that Thanksgiving at your place was pretty marvelous And it will help to keep your refrigerator from over flowing and speed clean-up.

 

[cloudy]

Okay. I found Southern Cornbread stuffing recipes, and I found recipes for stuffing with bacon, but very few with both. So, I'm gonna post the Southern "Dressing" recipe--evidently very authentic (Southern style requires, evidently, some white bread and/or crackers, also eggs, savory cornbread--rather than sweet--and that you crumble the cornbread rather than cube it), and a recipe for straight-up cornbread stuffing with bacon.

I think you can easily incorporate bacon to the Southern Cornbread stuffing. In the bacon stuffing recipe, you saute the veggies with the bacon so they, too, have bacon flavor. I don't know, however, if you're more interested in the stuffing being "Southern" or being "bacon" so here's both

Southern Style Cornbread Dressing:
1 pan cornbread
7 slices oven-dried white bread
32 saltine crackers (1 sleeve) ***if using bacon, you might want to go plain rather than salted on these***
8 tablespoons butter
2 cups celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
7 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sage (optional)
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (optional)
5 eggs, beaten

Directions
*Preheat oven to 350°F.
*combine crumbled cornbread, dried white bread slices, and saltines
*(If using bacon, I'd go for about 8 slices; fry it up moderate heat for 10 minutes till it starts to brown. Pour off bacon fat)
*Melt butter and saute celery and onion until transparent 5 to 10 minutes (and bacon is crisp and easily broken up)
*Add veggie (bacon) mix to cornbread mixture.
*Add stock. Mix, taste, and add salt, pepper, sage, and poultry seasoning.
*Add beaten eggs and mix well.
*Pour mixture into a greased pan and bake 45 minutes.

Ewww...white bread and crackers in dressing? Blech.

Just use two pans of cornbread, the rest of the recipe looks okay, but I don't use eggs in mine, either.

 

[3113]

Ewww...white bread and crackers in dressing? Blech.

But-but-but...the internet said it was authentic and the internet is never wrong....

Actually, there were a few of the "Southern" recipes that used pure cornbread, no white bread or crackers, but they were more or less repeats of the bacon-cornbread recipe, so I figured that one would stand for any and all bacon-cornbread stuffing. I did see a lot of "Southern Style" recipes that used white bread, crackers, eggs and cornbread or sometimes cornmeal

So I posted the one by Paula Deen to cover those.

 

[3113]

Dry Brining the Turkey

Here's an article on Dry Brining a turkey. Easier and supposedly better than straight brining where you have to soak a turkey in a tub of salt water over-night.

Dry Brining requires 3 days and a plastic bag for the turkey. You use a Tablespoon of kosher salt per 5lb's of turkey, rub it over the turkey outside and in (yes, atop the skin, not underneath), bag the turkey and leave it marinade for three days. Remove from bag, air dry in the frige and then roast. Supposedly, this makes for a moist, juicy and very flavorful turkey.

Here is the recipe for straight up dry-brining the turkey. There are also recipes for adding in seasonings like sage to accent the turkey. Those can be found in the main article's side bars.

 

[KarennaC]

Are you sure I can't just skip this holiday?

My kids have to go to their father for the day (stupid custody agreement...), which leaves my fiance and me on our own for our first Thanksgiving living together. I do not cook. Well, okay, obviously I do or we'd starve, but I don't cook well, and given my total resistance to most holidays, I refuse to even attempt Thanksgiving dinner.

We've been invited to my fiance's aunt's home for dinner that day. My fiance isn't a very social person overall, and to me going to his aunt's means that I'll be surrounded by people I don't actually know (other than his parents, sister, and the aforementioned aunt and her husband). I'd really rather not go; my fiance hasn't given me an answer yet on whether he wants to go. On the other hand, I don't want to be rude by refusing the invitation.

So how do I manage this situation?

 

[cloudy]

Are you sure I can't just skip this holiday?

My kids have to go to their father for the day (stupid custody agreement...), which leaves my fiance and me on our own for our first Thanksgiving living together. I do not cook. Well, okay, obviously I do or we'd starve, but I don't cook well, and given my total resistance to most holidays, I refuse to even attempt Thanksgiving dinner.

We've been invited to my fiance's aunt's home for dinner that day. My fiance isn't a very social person overall, and to me going to his aunt's means that I'll be surrounded by people I don't actually know (other than his parents, sister, and the aforementioned aunt and her husband). I'd really rather not go; my fiance hasn't given me an answer yet on whether he wants to go. On the other hand, I don't want to be rude by refusing the invitation.

So how do I manage this situation?

You put a smile on your face, and you go.

If he's your fiance, then they will soon be your family, too. You might as well get to know them.

 

[driphoney]

You put a smile on your face, and you go.

If he's your fiance, then they will soon be your family, too. You might as well get to know them.

And you might even like them!

Or, well, my thought was: make a reservation at a nice restaurant, dress up and make it special for the two of you. Make sure to buy a high quality pie beforehand for 'leftovers' later. Or ... do you get your kids at all that weekend? Maybe have a smaller version T-day at your place when they're there? Turkey (or just the breast), believe it or not, is pretty easy.

By the way, 3, those were all excellent ideas and I'm going to try to employ several of them!

Thanks!

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Okay, here's a question:

Best Apple Pie Recipe? I suspect it's just the fact that we don't have very good apples here in California, but my apple pies are never as good as they ought to be. The apples are often underdone, and there's never enough "juice."

To me, a really good apple pie is one where the apple is cooked through, neither raw apple nor apple-sauce mush (toothsome!), and there's just the right amount of "juice"--thickened, but not gooey, and not taking over the pie (some pies are more goo then apple! ).

It should be tart-sweet, very apple in flavor with a hint of spices. Nice flakey crust.

Thoughts? Recipes? Advice? Especially on how to get the perfect mix of apples here in non-apple friendly CA.

http://www.colleenhammond.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/apple-pie.jpg

No advice (I don't bake) but I do have a question: there's apple pie and peach pie. There's strawberry pie and banana pie, blueberry and gooseberry and kiwi. I've even seen raisin pie. But no pear pie. Why not?

 

[cloudy]

No advice (I don't bake) but I do have a question: there's apple pie and peach pie. There's strawberry pie and banana pie, blueberry and gooseberry and kiwi. I've even seen raisin pie. But no pear pie. Why not?

I don't see why you couldn't bake a pear pie. The consistency is like that of apples, so you could probably just do a substitution.

I have a pear tree, so I'll have to remember to try that.

 

[glynndah]

No advice (I don't bake) but I do have a question: there's apple pie and peach pie. There's strawberry pie and banana pie, blueberry and gooseberry and kiwi. I've even seen raisin pie. But no pear pie. Why not?

They have pear pie. They just call it "pear tart" or "pear tatin".


My helpful hint: If your family likes the crispy edges of the dressing best, make individual servings, about the size of a hamburger patty and bake them in the oven on cookie sheets.

 

[Chantilyvamp]

Ewww...white bread and crackers in dressing? Blech.

Just use two pans of cornbread, the rest of the recipe looks okay, but I don't use eggs in mine, either.

I gotta go with cloudy on that. I'm rather sure grandma never used anything but the cornbread for the bread bit. The second recipe seems like it would be closest to what she had in hers.

Thank you for looking for me

 

[3113]

We've been invited to my fiance's aunt's home for dinner that day. My fiance isn't a very social person overall, and to me going to his aunt's means that I'll be surrounded by people I don't actually know (other than his parents, sister, and the aforementioned aunt and her husband). I'd really rather not go; my fiance hasn't given me an answer yet on whether he wants to go. On the other hand, I don't want to be rude by refusing the invitation.

So how do I manage this situation?

We're here to help! Answer is simple (2-parts):

(1) Find a nice restaurant that is serving Thanksgiving dinner--one that sounds yummy to you and the fiance. There are lots of places that now serve up a Thanksgiving with all the trimmings, meaning you don't have to worry about cooking anything and can just enjoy the day with guy you love. Check out hotels and such, as they might have a buffet.

(2) As for Auntie, pass on the word that you can't make it for dinner--very sorry--but you CAN make it for dessert and coffee. That way, you and fiance can have your pie and eat it, too (so to speak). You get out of having to be social with these people for several hours while trapped at a dinner table, but you avoid offending and present yourself as part of the family.

Yes?

 

[3113]

But no pear pie. Why not?

I have a pear tree, so I'll have to remember to try that.

Pear pie was a rarity, I think because ripe pears can be so soft and fall apart as compared to apples. But it's not so any longer. I see lots of Pear pie recipes (though Glynndah is correct that they are more often called Pear tarts). Interestingly, pear pie recipes often mix the pears with tart fruit to counter the pear's sweetness, like cranberries or sour cherries. Here are a couple of yummie recipes:

Pear and Cranberries:
5 ripe Bartlett pears (2 1/2 pounds; Bosc or Anjou can be substituted)
6 cups (24 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

For topping the crust:
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream

On a lightly floured work surface, roll 1 disk of dough to 1/8 inch thick. Fit into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Trim edges flush with rim. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Roll out remaining disk and create a lattice top by cutting out a pattern. Refrigerate as well for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
*Peel, halve, and core pears.
*Very thinly slice 3 pears lengthwise, and cut remaining 2 pears into 8 wedges each.
*Toss together pears, cranberries, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape vanilla seeds over pear mixture, and toss
*Pour filling into piecrust, gently pressing to make it as level as possible. Dot filling with butter.

*whisk together egg yolk and cream in a small bowl. Lightly brush edge of piecrust with egg wash. Remove lattice crust and slide on top of filling. Gently press edges of crust to seal. Lightly brush lattice with egg wash.

*Place a foil-lined baking sheet on lower oven rack to catch any juices. Place pie on middle rack, and bake until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling gently, 90 to 100 minutes. Tent with foil if crust browns too quickly. Let pie cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/pub/ms_living/2007Q4/la103111_1107_pearcranpie_xl.jpg

And here's another:

Pear and Dried Cherry Pie:
1 1/2 cups dried tart cherries
4 pounds firm pears, (about 7), peeled and cored
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, (2 lemons)
1 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Pie Dough for top and bottom crust
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
*Place cherries in small bowl, cover with 1 cup hot water. Let stand 30 minutes. *Thinly slice pears and toss with lemon juice.
*Drain cherries; add to pears along with sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Toss; set aside.
*Roll out dough for a 9-inch pie pan. Fill pie bottom with reserved cherry-pear filling, and dot with butter.
*Roll out remaining piece of dough and place on top. Crimp top and bottom edges together; cut slits across top of dough. Sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar.
*Bake until the crust is golden and baked through, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Make good use of those pears, Cloudy!