OLD FASHIONED PEACH PIE

We went to a friend’s house for dinner tonight, and I got asked to make dessert. I made good ol’ fashioned PEACH Pie. I actually made two peach pies, and pulled them out of the oven about 15 minutes before we left for our friend’s home. That way, the pies were still warm when we ate them for dessert. Of course, we “had” to top the pie with ice cream. YUM!

Peach pie is probably one of our favorite desserts—especially during the late summer months when peaches are in season. Now it’s January and there aren’t always freshly-picked peaches at the supermarkets, and the farmer’s markets are closed down for the winter. I actually used frozen peaches in tonight’s pies—and these were peaches we bought from a farmer’s produce stand in northern Georgia on a trip this past summer. Georgia peaches are the best in my opinion—next to South Carolina peaches. They were delicious in tonight’s pies, and tasted just as good frozen as they were fresh.

In general, I recommend using frozen peaches in your pies during the “off” growing seasons. That’s true even if you don’t have your own frozen, tree-riped Georgia peaches. Any frozen peaches you can pick up from your local grocer are probably going to taste better (and be less expensive too!) than the “fresh” peaches that are available in supermarkets this time of year. (These “fresh” peaches were probably imported from far-flung lands in the Southern Hemisphere when the peaches were still green, and weren’t allowed to ripen on the trees…and they don’t usually have a whole lot of taste.) Actually it’s been said by many that frozen produce is often very good quality—even sometimes better than fresh produce, because there’s not a lot of time between harvesting and processing, so the fruit doesn’t go bad. So…in my peach pie recipe, it calls for frozen—not fresh—peaches. Just wanted to give you an explanation why. Here’s the recipe:

OLD FASHIONED PEACH PIE

Pastry for double 9-inch pie crust
6 cups frozen peaches, thawed slightly
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash salt
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 T. butter, cut into pieces

Line pie plate with bottom pie crust. In medium-sized bowl, combine peaches, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and flour. Spoon into bottom pie crust. Top filling evenly with butter pieces. Moisten crust with a little warm water, and put top crust on. Cut slits for steam to escape. Bake in 400 degree oven for about an hour.

Happy pie making—and eating!
~Becky