APRICOT AND APPLE PIE AND A LONG WINTERS’ NAP Excuse me why I close my eyes and imagine that winter is gone and the strong sun of the summer and sweet smell of the spring rifles in the air! My motivation just diminishes in to thin spirits and allows me to be lazy and confines me to do projects that I do not want to do. Like shoveling snow, seems to be every weekend; and from that fallen snow I have to fix broken fences and frozen gates and then I have to fix me! Take care of my hurting back and the frustration of not doing the things I like to do like maybe cooking and baking and other fun things that I need to do to be happy! So I have been taking a sort of mental sabbatical lately to get me out of this trance I go through when winter takes over my time. I would like to act like a bear and go for a long winters’s nap and wake up and see the sun! I also do not get many things done in the winter, like routine and mundane things that need to be done like balancing checkbooks, deep cleaning refrigerators and freezers, and scrubbing the oven. So, I think spring is finally on its way. I can hear the songbirds at my window, I can see the crocus popping up in the ground, I can see the snow melting in the streets. But, as I look out my window now. I see flakes of snow coming down, it is still cold, and I wonder. how long will it last? I am not going to care today, I will do all those boring tasks I’ve been putting off for a while now, and just do them! Refigerator, check! Stove , check! Checkbook, check! I guess winter is good for something! If it was nice out, I’d be working outside, maybe tending to the garden, and not get any work done! I am waking up, taking care of me, and getting that motivation back! I will make my favorite pie, an Apricot and Apple, eat a couple of slices with a glass of milk and that will make me feel better, yes, I am getting up, ” Hello, Everybody”
400 degree oven
1 unbaked 9 inch Pie crust (Top and Bottom)
- 6-8 medium apples ( I used MCintosh apples because they are juicy)
- 6-8 Apricots (halved and stem removed) I used a 24 oz jar of apricot halves
- 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 1/3 cup of brown sugar
- 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 – 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- 2 tablespoons of minute tapioca
- Make bottom pie crust
- Slice and core apples and apricots into quarters and mix together
- Add lemon juice and mix
- Add brown and granulated sugars, spices, flour, and tapioca, and mix till well blended
- Place apple and apricot mixture into pie shell
- make top crust and place over fruit
- Vent top and crimp and decorate edges
- Top with egg wash (1 egg and a little milk) brush over top
- sprinkle cinnamon sugar topping ( 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 4 teaspoons of sugar mixed together) over crust
- Place in 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes till lightly brown and apples pierced with a knife are done
- Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream