When we were children, Mom bought canned spiced peaches for a side dish at every Thanksgiving dinner but they’ve now disappeared from store shelves. We miss them terribly, but the filling in this pie tastes deliciously like those spiced peaches. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line 8- or 9-inch pie pan with pie crust. Put a colander over a large bowl and drain peaches; reserve … Continue reading Winter Spiced Peach Pie

Oh, my gosh, is this pie good. Don’t count on leftovers, ever. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 8- to 9-inch pie pan with one pie crust. Blend sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and cloves; set aside. Peel, core and slice apples. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet; add apples, lemon juice and sugar mixture. Cook until juice thickens slightly. Cool apples for about … Continue reading Brown Sugar Apple Pie

Delicious, not too sticky or sweet, and we’ve never had a fail with this recipe. Preheat oven to 325 degrees; line an 8- or 9-inch pie pan with pie crust. Mix all ingredients except pecans and pour into pie pan. Top with pecans (you can spend a lot of time arranging them prettily, or just plop them on), and lightly dunk the pecans in the … Continue reading Kate’s Pecan Pie

Just as tasty as the wet version, but without the moist bottom layer. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line bottom of 9-inch pie pan with crust. Mix flour, sugar, butter and salt to crumb texture – you can add 1-2 tablespoons of flour if the mix seems too wet. In mixing bowl, dissolve baking soda in molasses and add boiling water. Blend in two-thirds of … Continue reading Shoofly Pie (dry version)

One of the recipes from our German/Pennsylvania Dutch forebears; legend has it that it’s called “shoo-fly” because the pie is so sweet, when you put it out at a picnic, all the flying insects will gather around this pie and leave the rest of the table alone. I think that’s kind of an insulting story to pass along, especially when this molasses pie, and its … Continue reading Shoofly Pie (wet version)

Prepare your pie crusts. Peel and slice peaches into mixing bowl; set aside. In a second small bowl, combine starch and water, and whisk to blend well. Cut vanilla bean in half, and scrape the seeds out into the bowl. Add cinnamon and sugar, and blend well. Pour sugar mix over peaches and toss to coat. Rest fruit for at least 15 minutes to allow … Continue reading Peach Pie

Why bother with canned fillings when fresh cherries taste so much better, and pitting cherries is no big deal? Cherries are at their best in July,* so make this pie then. Also, small children find it amusing to pop the pits out of cherries – make them do the work and this pie is even easier. You can make this pie with beautiful yellow/pink Rainier … Continue reading Cherry Pie

In honor of today’s Kentucky Derby run, here’s the Southern favorite also known as Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie. One of our friends once asked us to add coconut for her husband, who is a serious devotee of all things coconut; the result was fabulous. Preheat oven to 325 degrees; line 9-inch pie pan with crust. Sprinkle pecans and chocolate evenly over bottom of pie crust. Spread … Continue reading Derby Pie

Jon Stewart once dissed strawberry rhubarb pie as the Agent Orange of pie-dom. Despite our deep and enduring admiration of him, we disagree – this pie has made people who fear and loathe rhubarb look forward to the pink stalks every spring. It’s a challenge to get it right, though – May rhubarb tastes better than late June rhubarb, but fresh strawberries aren’t even close … Continue reading Strawberry Rhubarb Pie