peach pie

Photo credit: Diane Larimore Garcher (swiped by me from Facebook)

These are peaches from my cousin, Diane’s, two trees. Earlier this summer, my dad went up to Prescott Valley to visit Diane and she sent a bunch of peaches home with him. This all occurred back in mid-August while I was in Alaska.

Upon our return to Arizona, my sister, Sloane, picked us up from the airport. As we were driving home, my dad called Sloane’s cell to see if “we’d made it.” I was assuring him, that indeed we did, when he said, “Hey, what are you doing tomorrow? I’ve got a bunch of peaches from Diane – how about I bring them over and we can peel them.”

WHAT?!  I’ve been out of town for two weeks. I landed a mere 25 minutes ago. The day is gone, it is dark outside. I spent the last 10 hours sitting on shuttles, stuck in an airport, languishing on an overbooked airplane, and standing at a carousel waiting for luggage (I know that word “carousel” sounds like such FUN. It is not!)  And my dad honestly thinks I may actually want to just hang out and peel peaches with him in a few hours!

Yeah, thanks. But, no, not so much!

Although clearly disappointed with my obvious lack of enthusiasm – my dad peeled the peaches himself, packaged and froze them, and then brought them to my house later in the week. Upon their delivery, he said, “Maybe one of these days, you could make me a peach pie with these.”

Wow, parents really never lose the knack.  They know exactly how to lay on the guilt, don’t they?

Anyhow, yes, I made the pie and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.  Thank you, Dad. And, thank you, Diane, for the luscious peaches – they were divine! xoxo

Gene’s Peach Pie

Crust
2  1/2 cups flour, plus more for rolling
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1/2 cup ice water

Filling
About 3 1/2 pounds peaches, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Crust: In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt, and cold butter. Use the pulse button to process until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

Remove the lid and add the vanilla paste to the mixture. Run the processor, adding the ice water through the feed tube just until the mixture begins to come together. Gather the dough into a ball. With a bench scraper or knife, divide the mixture evenly in half. Shape each half into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil.

Lightly flour a work surface and a rolling pin and roll out one disk to about a 12-inch round and drape over a 9 1/2-inch pie plate.

On a piece of parchment, roll out the other disk to about a 10-inch round, and cut into 1-inch strips with a fluted pastry cutter wheel. Return to the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Filling: Place peaches in a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice. In another bowl blend together both sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cornstarch. Stir the dry mixture into the peaches and mix well.

Pour the peaches into the pie crust.  Remove lattice strips from the refrigerator and top LIKE THIS.

Crimp the edges of the pie to seal.  If desired, use a small leaf or other decorative cutter and use the dough scraps to cut out leaves and place them on top of the lattice top crust. Use a drop of water to adhere the leaves to the crust.

Place the pie onto the foil-lined baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, and then lower the heat to 375 degrees and bake until the crust gets brown, about 40 to 45 minutes until the filling is bubbling all over and the crust is a nice golden brown. If the edges brown too fast, cover them with strips of aluminum foil.

Cool about at least 2 1/2 hours before serving.  It is tempting to dig in before the time is up, but just know that the filling does not fully thicken until it is cool.

Makes 1 pie