Fresh Apricot Pie

Nothing says summer more than fresh local fruit!  I consider myself blessed to live in the Pacific Northwest with it's bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables.   Apricots are a summer treat and putting them in a pie is a family tradition I intend to keep and pass on to my two new daughters-in-law that are joining our family this summer!

 My Mom taught me how to make this pie....without a formal recipe. We used the recipe from the old Betty Crocker cookbook for the pie crust .  I am a good pie crust maker but.....I have started to use the Trader Joe's Pie Crust.  Simple to use and it's a darn good crust. Perfect to have in my freezer.  
The apricots are firm, ripe fruits that I pit and quarter.  I add sugar, flour, a pinch of salt, and I tried a new addition of Penzey's Pie Spice.  Wow!  The Pie Spice is a combination of cinnamon, vanilla sugar, mace, ginger, nutmeg, anise, and clove.   Fantastic flavor.  I hope you'll give it a try and see exactly why I love this pie!

Summer Apricot Pie

4-5 cups fresh apricots, pitted and quartered

1 1/2 - 2 cups of sugar~depending on the tartness of the apricots.

1/3 cup flour

2 t. Penzey's Pie Spice or cinnamon 

1/2 t. salt

Mix filling well in a large bowl and let it sit for about 15 minutes to make some juice. 

After 15 minutes, pour filling into a 9-inch pastry lined pie pan.  Dot with butter, about  2 tablespoons. Add the top crust. Crimp the edge and vent the top of the pie. Brush with milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and continue to bake for 30-35 minutes until you see juice bubbling out the top.

Pumpkin Pie----old style!

I was watching Good Eats the other day and Alton Brown made pumpkin pie from a fresh pumpkin.  I have always wanted to do that....soooo....I was in Safeway today and they had organic sugar pumpkins! Score!

I brought it home, cut it in half, scooped out the seeds,  put the halves face down on a parchment lined baking sheet, and baked them until they were super tender. I was unsure of what the taste and texture would be like.....taste: very sweet...texture, suprisingly smooth!  I scooped out the flesh from the skin and threw it in the food processor until it was super finely pureed.  Then I put the puree in a saucepan on medium heat and let it cook for a few minutes to evaporate the extra liquid from it.  It was now ready to make the filling.

I dumped the filling ingredients into the food processor (No...I didn't wash it in between) mixed them up and poured the filling into a Trader Joe's pie crust....already made! They are pretty dang good for a store-bought crust....actually the best I've ever had!  Baked it up and voila!  Pumpkin Pie....old style.

Now...what to do with the extra pumpkin puree I have left over.....cookies, bread, pancakes?

Pumpkin Pie a la Alton Brown

16 oz. pumpkin puree-freshly made

1 c. half and half     * I used 1 c. evaporated milk

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

3/4 c. brown sugar  * I used 1 cup brown sugar

1 t. nutmeg-freshly grated

1/2 t. kosher salt

* I added 1 t. cinnamon and 1 t. pumpkin pie spice.

Pour into an unbaked 9 inch pie shell. Bake @ 425 for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the center is just barely jiggly!

Let cool completely.