Peach Pie

Image from: partyresources.blogspot.com

I have a kitchen full of peaches right now. I am debating if they should become peach jam, peach chutney, peach butter or simply frozen in slices so the little guy can enjoy them all winter long. Either way, a few of them will be made into a peach pie.

I have a large place in my heart for August peach pies. (Gaw, it is already September!)

By my senior year of college the women I met in Russian class had become my best friends and room mates. We added 2 other amazing women to our ranks over the years to make us a ridiculously loud group. We lived in a falling down house which the five of us filled with far too many clothes (which we all shared), tapestries (collected from travels),  random pottery (made in pottery class) and a ferret (Penelope).

I am pretty sure men were either afraid or thrilled to enter our house. Amusingly enough, two of those boyfriends are now husbands, so we couldn't have been that bad.

It was here that I first started liking to cook. We were all broke, so taking cheap food and creating something that fed 5, or usually 10, college kids was always fun. Soups, pastas, big salads, and brownies were almost always on the menu.

But the best days were when J made her peach pies. J is the sweetest, kindest hearted woman I have ever met. She is soft spoken even when angry. Elegant even when covered in fish guts and sea water. And way to too smart. I know this because we took almost every class through out college together. She was hard to keep up with.

J would make her pies in the evening, but we wouldn't dig in until morning. I have wonderful memories of sitting on the porch, drinking huge mugs of coffee and eating big slices of pie for breakfast. The late August sun was warm and gentle and the weight of school wasn't crushing us just yet. (I think it helped we didn't have 8am classes anymore too!)

We haven't all been together in a really long time. I am looking forward to the day when we are all together again, sipping mugs of coffee and eating slices of pie. And now, sharing nibbles with all our babies.

Peach Pie
2 pie crusts (I use pre-made, cause I am lazy like that)
8-10 peaches, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. In a small bowl mix together cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon and butter until it is a crumb like texture.
2. Lay one pie crust into the bottom of a pie tin. Sprinkle a bit of the crumb on the bottom of the crust. Add a layer of peaches, add a bit more crumb. Repeat until all the peaches are piled high and the crumb topping is used up. The goal is to just intersperse it. Alternately, you could just toss topping and peaches together and pile them into the shell.
3. Top pie with other crust, either using a lattice (which I am not skilled enough to do) or slice vents into the top crust.
4. Put pie onto a cookie sheet, in case anything bubbles over the pie tin.
5. Bake 45 minutes or until kitchen smells amazing. The pie is best eaten after completely cooled. So save it for breakfast!