Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Apricot Bounty Baking

Some of you have asked about the apricot pie that I announced that Bob would make with some of the apricot bounty we harvested from his folk's trees a week or so ago. Well, the apricot pie turned out great. He stuffed it very full of apricots and made a very big pie. We divided it amongst the 3 of us and his parents to thank them for providing the apricots. The pie is gone now, but I promised one of my blog friends, Farmgirl DK from Critter Farm Blog that I would post a "virtual" apricot pie for her. So here is your virtual pie, a photographic image of the actual apricot pie. Too bad we don't have "smell o vision" or "taste o vision" like Emeril says on his TV show.

Apricot Pie by Baker Bob

Bob also made a peach pie and some banana bread that same day. The peaches we bought while attending a local "Stone Fruit Festival" that had organically grown fruit for us to taste from different local farms. They had fruit to buy and wonderful pastries and popsicles made from that same organic stone fruit. We had a great time and brought home fresh fruit as souvenirs. Here's the peach pie and banana bread Bob made.

Peach Pie & Banana Bread also by Baker Bob

Jack made some wonderful apricot crisp this past weekend that we shared with his son who was visiting us for the holiday. Great warmed and topped with vanilla ice cream. I didn't get a photo though, and now it's too late because we ate the whole crisp. I also didn't get a photo of the cheesecake I made using a friend's recipe and then topping it with fresh apricot sauce. That was tasty too. I think I'll make it again. Tonight's apricot project is homemade apricot ice cream. I'll try to get a photo to share with y'all. Assuming it turns out well.

I think we need to go on diets now. Lots of baking (and eating) going on around here lately.


© Copyright 2008 Mountain Harvest Basket

6 comments:

CaliforniaGrammy said...

Those pies look so scrumptious. How nice to have a "Bob" in your life. He must be baking in the wee hours of the morning with the heat wave you folks are going through. Great pictures!

Danni said...

Oh my....that's just cruel. Delightfully cruel. You know what I notice most about this pie? The beautiful crust. I am a horrible pie crust maker. I admit it, I now buy the pre-made frozen store crusts. What is his secret? Please tell HW Bob that he has a pie-making gift that he should share with others, well, just me, actually. ;-)
Gee, you really lucked out, Jen...two men who like to bake for you...in your shoes, I would forego breakfast, lunch and dinner and just eat desserts at every meal! (can you tell I have a bit of a sweet-tooth?) lol
Thanks for the pie picture dedication :-) :-) :-). That was fun!

Hardware Bob said...

Thanks everyone for the pie making compliments,and noticing my crust making expertise.

I learned all of my baking skills from Jen, and generally follow the tried and true recipe.

Venturing out out secretly, and experimenting left or right of the recipe can also be fun, sometimes with bad results, sometimes not.

The apricot pie could have been better, the peach was fabulous. I forgot to increase the other ingredients to match the nearly 4 cups of mounded apricots.

As to the crust success, general purpose flour, real butter only warmed to room temperature, very cold, icy water, a tiny pinch of salt, and don't work the dough too much. And, most important is to not use too much flour when using the rolling pin. There, my secret's out.

Store made crusts should be illegal.

Farmer Jen said...

Hi CA Grammy,
Yes, Bob's baking is a treat. Thanks for the praise on the pie photos, those were Bob's doing as well.

Hi Farmgirl DK,
Bob's pie crusts are more flaky and tender than mine, which is great but also frustrating since I taught him how to make pies in the first place. I have a sweet tooth as well. Unfortunately, I gain weight when I indulge too often in sweets. You are most welcome for the virtual pie pictures. Sorry I couldn't share some of the actual pie with you.

Hi Bob,
Your pies are great. Do you really only use a "pinch" of salt in your pie crusts? That there may be the real secret.

Hardware Bob said...

The pinch of salt was optional on your recipe, I took the option.

Farmer Jen said...

Hi Bob,
Actually the recipe I use for making 2 pie crusts (for a double crust pie) calls for 1 whole teaspoon of salt, and it is not listed as an option. Hey pie crust lovers out there in the blogosphere, this may indeed be the secret to flaky pie crusts. Use only a tiny pinch of salt.

Now my fruit pie filling generic recipe lists an optional 1/8 tsp of salt. Perhaps you got the two parts of the pie recipe mixed up, which created a fantastic crust in the process. How innovative! I'll try withholding the salt next time I make pie crusts and see what happens.