P is for Peach

"Peach pie", that is.

This month's "You Want Pies with That?" assignment was to bake a literary-inspired pie and was chosen by Mary of The Food Librarian (what other theme could a librarian possibly chose?). I was all over this as I love, love, LOVE to read.

A bag of frozen peaches has been calling out to me every time I open the freezer, so I knew I wanted to bake a peach pie. It was just a matter of whether to chose the book "James and the Giant Peach" (one of my childhood favorites), or the alphabet inspired murder mystery series by Sue Grafton. Her first book is "A is for Alibi" and she's now up to "T is for Trespass". In the end, I went with Ms. Grafton's books... they take me back to the time when my second baby was born and I sat on my rear-end for pretty much the first three months of his life, reading her entire series and holding my sweet little munchkin while he alternately ate and slept. (I also read Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series during that time.)

So anyway... it's too late to appeal to Ms. Grafton to name her "P" book, "P is for Peach", but I'm running with the theme anyway.

P is also for "polka dots".

My peach pie looked so cute going into the oven (I thought)...

P is also for (slightly) "pathetic" and "pitiful".



Not so pretty coming out, huh? My sad little pie definitely falls into the "only-a-mother-could-love-it" category. I blame it on the convection oven, which I futzed around with the whole time the pie was baking.

(Gee, I wonder if I should pull out the owner's manual and read it? Nah... I think I'll flub up a few more recipes first, just for good measure, LOL.)

But you know what? It tasted awe-some! I served it at our Super Bowl party and got many, many compliments on it. I will definitely make this again.

Pathetic Pitiful Polka-dotted Peach Pie

One double 9-inch unbaked pie crust
5 cups sliced peaches (I used well-thawed frozen peaches, about 2-1/2 pounds)
3/4 C. sugar
4 to 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour (if your peaches are on the dry side, I'd go with 4 tablespoons, but if they're quite juicy, I would use more)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, sliced

This recipe comes from an old family friend that I no longer keep in touch with. All I had was the ingredient list so I had to refer to other cookbooks and basically wing it as I went.

Prepare your pie dough up to the point of rolling it out and laying the bottom crust in your buttered pan and trimming the edges. Refrigerate the crust while you prepare the filling. Roll out and refrigerate your top crust (on a flat surface such as a cutting board) if using.

Gently toss the peaches, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes, then add the filling to the pan. Dot the top with the butter. At this point, you could top with a lattice top or a full pie crust. Seal the edges and crimp or flute as desired. Make slits in the top if using a full crust. Refrigerate the pie for at least a half hour, or stick it in the freezer if you have less time. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Place the pie on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 35 to 50 minutes or until juices bubble. Cover the edges with aluminum foil or a pie shield if they start over-browning. (FYI... I baked mine for more like and hour and a half total, but that have been because I was messing with my oven the whole time. As a side note, I wonder if a top crust would have kept it from being a little dry on top.)

Remove from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack.

Enjoy!