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@PumpkinBear: I live in a small, central Oklahoma town, and the teenagers who are checkout clerks work after school and on weekends. If the produce isn't marked, I don't mind answering their questions, and sometimes it does start some nice conversations about food. There are an awful lot of different kinds of apples now, and I have trouble telling them apart, and if they are cooking apples, eating apples, etc. It's enough to give me a headache, and not buy any of them. Also, I wasn't interested in food that much when I was a teenager. It wasn't until I was married and trying to figure out how many ways I could stretch a pound of hamburger on a cowboy's wages that I became interested (and challenged!). Thankfully, it's become a wonderful passion for me, and it has led me down many paths and allowed me to meet many interesting people. I just wish I could feel the same way about computers.

Ditto on anything made with pumpkin and sweet potatoes, particularly baked with butter, brown sugar & cinnamon, rice pudding with raisins, custard, corn chowder, beans and corn bread, good bread pudding with whiskey sauce, warm gingerbread with whipped cream, potato sausage, pecan pie, chicken & dumplings, any kind of homemade soup, and if I'm in a hurry, 3 can soup.

SCV - I've been giving this some more thought today. Since it sounds like you have an abundance of fruit, have you considered making pear honey or pear-apple butter? Neither are hard, but do require frequent stirring to prevent scorching. It will be awesome this winter slathered on hot biscuits, and you could present jars to family and friends for holiday gift giving. Nothin' says lovin' like something' from the oven (er-stovetop). Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

@hungrychristel: Thanks for the atta-girl!

I've never heard of pear-apples, but they sound interesting. I would think you could use them the same way as you would apples or pears, such as cobblers using either pie crust or biscuit topping. Other suggestions - single or double crust pie, pie with a crumb topping, rustic tart, or cooked as a side dish with raisins, carmelized onions, cinnamon, a little clove and nutmeg or allspice, a little white or brown sugar, and butter and served with pork roast or chops. You could also roast in the oven with sweet potatoes or prepare them like fried apple slices, or apple fritters. Dice them in small pieces and add to pancake or waffle batter.

Pumpkin waffles with toasted pecans and real maple syrup and pumpkin butter on hot biscuits!

I've been raising chickens off and on for past 30 years, and all the comments that I've read so far are good. Pavlov and Pooch know what they are talking about. Don't get caught up in the "romance" of raising your own chickens. They do have to be taken care of daily. Eggs have to be found if your chickens are free range, and having a daily egg hunt can get old in a hurry. They will find somewhere else to lay as soon as you find their nest. Also, you'll have to do something with the poop at some point. You could compost some of it, but check into that more thoroughly because chicken manure is "hot" and it will burn your vegetables and flowers if applied too thickly into your gardens if applied directly.
Also, hens don't make noise, roosters do - at all hours of the night and day. I always order all pullets, and whomever you are dealing with should be able to guarantee that you will get at least 80% females. I was particularly lucky this year, and only got one rooster. If you don't care anything about raising baby chicks from your hens, there's no point in having roosters. If you do want to raise chicks, figure at least 50% of them will be roosters, and what are you going to do with all those roosters?
You could raise them to eat if the breed is a meat chicken, but if you allow them free range, you will never have a tender, juicy bird on your table. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong about this, but I've never had a tender, free range chicken that was fit to eat no matter how I cooked it. Hens will lay eggs without the help of a rooster.

Now,with all that said, I love my chickens, and I have my favorite ones, too. If they are consistently handled, they become very tame, and even seem to look forward to your company. I had a banty/aracuana cross pullet that we hand raised in the house because of a leg injury. She slept in our bedroom at night on the window sill, and she went camping with us one time when I was unwilling to leave her at home. Chickens are fun, and I wish you a generous share of it!