Hello Summer!

Here on the east coast, it seems that someone turned on the blast furnace just in time for labor day weekend. And forgot to turn it off again. Not even the shore was immune, as I found out during my very hot 5 Miler!

Three 95+ degree days in a row does not leave me excited at the prospect of baking. I think I’m breaking into a sweat just at the idea of turning my oven on. But there are some summertime treats so cool and refreshing, that the end result is worth the initial heat investment.

Take these Margarita Bars. I made them for a lovely clam bake we attended on the beautiful Indian River Bay this past weekend. I had to turn on the oven in our already hot beach house kitchen to make them. But the cool satisfaction of biting into a lemon bar’s hipper adult cousin while trying to beat the summer heat–makes summer living easy.

Margarita Bars
Adapted from Sugarcrafter

I knew I HAD to make these as soon as they popped up in my feed over the weekend. And the recipe to conversion time was shockingly fast–I think we were eating these less than 10 hours after I saw the recipe! I did make a few alterations–I doubled the recipe (the recipe below will fit in a 13 x 9 pan) and I used margarita mix instead of tequila and triple sec because that’s what we had. And when you need dessert NOW, you have to work with what you have! Next time I will make these will the full strength alcohol. Also, we found these had a stronger taste after an overnight in the fridge, so I would recommend baking the day before you plan to serve.

Ingredients:

For the crust:
2 cups flour
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, melted

For the filling:
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups granulated sugar
4 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp tequila
2 Tbsp triple sec
4 Tbsp fresh lime juice
4 tsp lime zest
1 drop green food coloring (optional)
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease an 13 x 9 baking dish. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Stir in the melted butter. Press the dough into the baking dish (try to get it even) and then bake 15-20 minutes or until the edges of the crust turn light brown.

Reduce the heat to 300 degrees. In another medium bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, flour, salt, tequila, triple sec, and lime juice and zest, and food coloring. Pour the filling mixture over the warm crust and bake another 25-30 minutes, or until center is set.

After removing the dish from the oven, lightly dust with powdered sugar. Let cool, refrigerate and then cut into squares. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Sometimes life gets in the way. In the way of photographing a really great recipe or a great moment. Because you’re just too busy being in the moment to care.

That’s what happened for this recipe, which I’ve made several times now, but I always end up not photographing, because I’m always making it for some event, which means I’m typically in a rush to get it done, in the oven, and on the table (or out the door!)

Well Saturday afternoon when I made it, I was determined to get pictures so it could go on the blog. I pulled out the camera and started snapping away. But then the rush just before a party starts took over, and guests started arriving and too much prep needed to be happening and the brie came out and went on the table and WAS GONE before I even thought about taking a picture.

So you’ll have to forgive me for being a bad food blogger. But I do think I was a pretty good hostess–the occasion for the brie was a surprise bridal shower for my dear friend Jen, who is getting married in just over a month! And I think she was totally surprised! Which makes up for not having a picture of the brie right? Especially since I have some pictures of the lovely tablescapping instead.

So look at that plate with sliced bread and imagine there’s some brie there. Or look at the lovely cupcakes, which you can find recipes for here and here.

Bake Brie in Phyllo

This really is the perfect party treat. People ALWAYS go nuts for it and are amazed that you made it yourself. And it’s very customizable!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts work well)
1/4 cup dried fruit (I’ve use cranberries, cherries, and apricots so far!)
1/4 cup honey
1 wheel brie
6 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine nuts, fruit, and honey. Set aside. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In the center of the sheet, place the first piece of phyllo. Brush lightly with melted butter, then place another sheet on top. Continue brushing sheets with butter and adding another until you’ve layered six sheets. In the center of the sheets, spread the fruit and nut mixture. Place the wheel of brie on top, then wrap the edges of the phyllo around the brie. Flip the wrapped brie over, so the side with the fruit and nut mixture is on top.

Brush the package with melted butter, then place in a preheated 425 degree oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until dough is golden brown, then reduce temperature to 350 and bake for another 10 minutes. Allow brie to sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve with slices of french bread or crackers.

Our surprised guest of honor!

So where were we? Oh yeah, I had a cake to share with you!

After a major furniture rearrange in our rental house and the better part of a day, we had one beautiful cake. It’s amazing what 18 sticks of butter and 7 pounds of powdered sugar can turn a humble blueberry cake into!

And you know what? This cake was fun to put together! Amazingly not stressful for such beautiful results! Eileen and I just hit a rythmn with this one and everything fell into place. In the morning I manned the mixer making batch after batch of Martha’s beautiful buttercream while Eileen crumb coated. Then in the afternoon, we iced finished layers and assembled in record time. We were so not stressed, we took a lunch and shopping break midway through the process. I think that low stress level upped the love in the final product.

Adorable (homemade!) fondant turtle cake toppers. I know someone is going to ask, so I’ll tell you, they were a request from the bride. There’s a story out there about the turtle pond and the couple’s love!

After the ceremony, I couldn’t wait for the cutting! Ryan and Eli were nice enough to bring us up and introduce us to their guests before taking the first slice…

…and sharing it nicely.

After that first piece, it was all a blur for me. The cake went so fast–with many, many people coming back for seconds before we were even done cutting–I had to have Noel snag me a piece and hide it to make sure I even got one! I’m glad he did, since the cake was delicious–moist with tiny Maine blueberries sprinkled throughout, a crumble between the layers, and a wonderfully thick coating of buttercream.

All night long Eileen and I had people coming up to us telliing us how delicious the cake was, with several people saying it was the best wedding cake they had ever had. There were no sad pieces left on tables at the end of the night–all of it was eaten!

So, all in all, I would say this cake was a smashing success! We went, we baked, and we shared one fantastic evening with a great couple. Thanks again to Ryan and Eli for letting us be a part of your big day! We wish you all the happiness in the world as you start out your lives together!

And for you dear readers, here’s the link to the first part of this story (in case you missed it!).

So you all know I went to Maine for my summer vacation (as evidenced by the lobster sightings) but I don’t know if I ever told you why.

They’re why. They are Ryan and Eli. Ryan is one of Noel’s oldest friends. Eli is his rockin fiancee wife. And they were getting married, at Eli’s family’s house in Maine. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

And guess what else? They asked us to bake their wedding cake! SQUEE! So Eileen and I packed up our mixers, 25 pounds of flour, a ridiculous amount of powdered sugar, half of the rest of our kitchens, oh, and our husbands, and headed off to Maine for the week!

Baking a wedding cake from scratch is always an adventure, but baking one in an unknown kitchen is extra fun. Like when you get there and realize you have an apartment and not a kitchen oven. That doesn’t work so well for a 14 inch round–thanks again to Sue and Jon for letting us steal their oven for an afternoon, or otherwise, this story might not have such a happy ending!

But luckily, it does have a happy ending, one full of butter, sugar, fresh, hand picked wild Maine blueberries, love, friends, and fun. Thanks to way too much overplanning on mine and Eileen’s part, the cake went off without a hitch. We had the perfect recipe, good upper arm strength, and a delightful buttercream. And it all came together beautifully.

I’m sure right now you’re ready for a picture of the cake. But you know what? Good things come to those who wait. So come back later this week to see us put it together and the final product–but as a preview, I think it may be the most beautiful cake we’ve ever made!

Last weekend, we cleaned our alley. Okay, Noel cleaned the alley with some of our neighbors and I made these cookies for the after coffee party and chat. Details people, details.

I thought about starting this post with a picture of our alley, but then I realized some of you may read the blog early in the morning, and you really don’t want to start your day with trash and unidentified carcass. Yes, I said carcass. In fact, you probably don’t want to see those two things on this blog EVER, so I’m just going to leave it out always. But reports back from the alley indicated both were there.

Sadly, a gross alley is one of the not-so-joyous things about city living. When I was a kid and we had an alley, we rode our bikes and played back there. Maybe this is just a different type of alley, or times have changed, but the long and short of it was the alley needed major love.

And to thank those who were willing to go where I would rather not, I wanted to bring something a little special to the after party. Something that would be a good hearty snack for after the hard work these folks had engaged in, but would still feel breakfasty enough for mid-morning. After a perusal of my cookbooks, I settled on these cookies. I’ve really been grooving on peanut butter + oatmeal for breakfast recently, so no surprise that I gravitated to a recipe with both. The fact that the recipe only called for a tiny bit of whole wheat flour was a bonus.

I’m happy to report these were a hit…a just reward for my East Baltimore Alley heroes!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies

These cookies are a bit flatter and crunchier than the average oatmeal cookie because of their lack of flower, but that doesn’t make them any less delicious. These are hearty enough to be a mid morning snack or after workout treat (we did both) but still peanut buttery enough to satisfy the peanut butter and chocolate lovers in your life. The original recipe called for peanuts but I left them out since I’m not a fan!

Ingredients:

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

Put sugars, butter, and peanut butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low. Add oat mixture, and mix until just combined. Mix chocolate chips by hand.

Using a tablespoon or jumbo sized cookie scoop, drop balls of dough 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake cookies until golden brown and just set, 13 to 15 minutes. They will still look a little gooey in the middle but that’s okay. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Ah, cobbler. One of my first, and favorite, summertime food memories.

First and favorite, because you see, my mom’s family is from the South. And there are few things southerners enjoy like fresh fruit covered with tasty biscuit dough–aka cobbler. Okay, maybe they enjoy stuff fried in bacon grease more, but trust me, cobbler is WAAAAY up there on the list.

As a result, there was rarely a summertime gathering in my childhood where a cobbler didn’t make an appearance. Our family was particularly fond of peaches, so it was often peaches with a Bisquick top. Just cut them up, add some cinnamon, a quick drop top and it was instant summer!

Hot dogs, potato salad, slip’n'slides, sprinklers and cobbler. Summertime–oh my!

I can feel the sticky from the cobbler on my arm and the cuts and stuck-on grass from one too many trips on down the slip’n'slide. My hair is a crazy mess with barrettes. Must be summertime!

So is it any surprise that when the food restrictions were lifted I went straight for this cobbler, with all the memories it triggers? Absolutely not, especially since it has cornmeal biscuits on top. And you know, cornbread, ain’t nothing wrong with that!

Peach and Blueberry Cornmeal Crusted Cobbler
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

This deliciousness hadn’t been in the oven for 10 minutes before I knew it was going to be a stellar, knock it out of the ballpark, one of my favorite things ever, hit. And I would be lying if I didn’t admit to having two servings the night I served it for dessert, and then two servings the next day too. And did I mention I’m making it again this weekend? Oh yeah. I’ve doubled Deb’s recipe for cornmeal biscuits, because you can never have enough biscuit top.

Ingredients:

For the fruit
1 1/2 (about 4 cups) pounds peaches, pitted and cut into slices
1 pint (about 2 cups) blueberries, rinsed and dried
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the biscuit topping
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fine stone-ground cornmeal (yellow or white)
6 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup buttermilk or 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar

Preheat oven to 425°F. Place peaches and blueberries in a large shallow dish, the add sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon and salt and stir gently (or use your hand to mix) until the fruit is well coated.

Make the biscuit dough: Stir together the flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into the dry mixture with your fingertips, a fork or a pastry blender. Stir in buttermilk with a rubber spatula until a wet, tacky dough comes together.

Plop spoonfuls of the biscuit dough over the filling (I used a cookie scoop and it worked great). Bake until the cobbler’s syrup is bubbly and the biscuit tops are browned, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool slightly then serve, or cool completely and reheat before serving.

But who am I kidding, I ate it cold too!

I hate to sound like a broken record, but it’s been H-O-T here on the east coast. Like, more days over 90 degrees than ever before in my expert meteorological memory. Right after the fourth, we had a day where the actual temperature–not the heat index–hit 105. Yikes! We were at the shore that day, AND IT WAS STILL over 100 degrees, which is downright shocking for Slower Lower.

As always when it’s that hot out, we try to get as much of our cooking done outside as possible. No need to heat the house up when the AC is already running non-stop!

One of those hot, hot, hot days at the shore, we made this. I’ve decided this might be the perfect summer treatment of pork loin. It takes literally no time to prep, it waits for you in the fridge while you’re occupied, say, on the beach, and then you can grill it up with little effort. Oh and it’s just salty enough to replenish your stores after a day in the sun. Because salt tastes really, really good after a day on the beach!

Coriander and Oregano Brined Pork Loin
Adapted from Everyday Food

When we were putting this brine together, I was worried about how much salt it called for. We were making a triple recipe, and that’s A LOT of salt. But it turns out, my fears were unfounded. Once the meat was grilled, the meat was only lightly salted, and mostly only on the seared outside “crust”. And boy was the light salting good after a day in the sun. We ended up cutting a bunch of this into bite size pieces and taking it to fireworks party and it was a HUGE hit!

Ingredients (for one 1 1/2 pound section of pork loin, increase the recipe for larger pieces):

2/3 cup coarse salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 springs oregano
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin
vegetable oil for grill

Directions:

In a large bowl combine 4 cups of water and the first 6 ingredients. Stir until the sugar and the salt dissolve. Place the pork loin in a gallon sized zip top bag, then pour the mixture over the pork and seal the bag. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or up to 8.

Set up your grill for indirect cooking over medium high (if you’re using charcoal, this means put all of the coals on one side, with gas, only turn on one burner). Remove pork from brine and pat dry. Place the meat on the side of the grill that has the coals or burner on for 15 minutes. Then move the meat to the other side of the grill, and cook with the lid on until the pork is cooked through and a meat thermometer reads 140 (this took about 35 minutes for us). Transfer meat to a cutting board and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

Miniature pork (almost) cylinders!

I have arrived in the ultimate food rut. It has nothing to do with pizza. In fact, the rut is probably the opposite of this amazing, fantastic, amazing (so much in fact, I can say it twice) grilled pizza.

Me in a food rut? Well yes. And this isn’t my usual, self imposed, ilovepbjsomuchieatiteveryday rut. Rather it’s a “you have a fun, mysterious ailment, which we think may be food related, so we want to systematically eliminate everything from your diet” rut. It started last week with dairy, and right now I’m in the midst of a nothing but rice and meat spell. I’ve tried everything I can think of to make that exciting, but even copious amounts of cinnamon and sugar are not making plain white rice very appealing right now.

So I’m dreaming. Of cookies, cakes, fresh fruit and cheese. Of a nice cold glass of sangria. Heck, a few hours ago I was dreaming about eating straight butter. And I’m dreaming about this pizza.

Yeah, I know I’m being a bit whiney and that lots of people have to deal with food restrictions a lot more serious than this everyday of their lives. And now I think I appreciate what they live with a little bit more, because this has been hard. I’m usually a grazer, eating a little bit of everything as I go through life. I love little tastes of everything, especially as I’m cooking. But right now I can’t take that little taste of cake batter, or the spoonful of jam. Even my morning coffee has been a challenge, since my usual vanilla soy creamer is a no-go.

So I’m looking forward to returning to my normal cornucopia of food once this experiment is over. But I’m also looking forward to finding a solution, because I’ve been pretty sick for a while now, and as I’m fond of saying to Noel, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.

So this holiday weekend I encourage you to make this pizza, because like I said, it’s amazing. And enjoy it thoroughly. And have a piece for me, since I’ll still be in the midst of this food experiment, and grilled pizza is always one of my favorite things. So work on perfecting your technique, because next time I’m coming over to sample yours!

Whole Wheat Overnight Pizza Crust
Adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

Noel and I have been grilling pizza for quite some time, it’s one of our favorite things to do. But before we had always used a fast, all white flour crust. This last time I decided to try out the overnight whole wheat crust from the KAF Whole Grains Baking book. We had it once on an oven pizza and it was phenomenal, so I couldn’t wait to try it on the grill. I’m happy to report it was fantastic! Don’t tell Noel, but I think this is our new go-to. Even though it needs to sit in the fridge overnight it comes together super fast and is lovely to work with. Always a winning combination in my book.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 cups cool water

Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer (don’t try this by hand, the dough is really sticky until after it’s rise) combine three types of flour, salt, and yeast. Mix on low to combine. Then add the olive oil and the water. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for two minutes. If it seems like your dough isn’t quite coming together, add a bit more water, one tablespoon at a time. Cover the dough and let rise for 45 minutes.

After the rise, uncover the bowl and punch down the dough, working it into a ball in the bowl. Re-cover the bowl (tightly) and place it in the fridge. It can rest there overnight, or up to three days.

When you’re ready to eat your pizza (at least an overnight later) divide the dough in half on a well floured work surface. Using your hands, or a rolling pin, shape the dough into a 10 inch round. While you’re working the dough, preheat your grill. After the dough is ready, prep the toppings of your choice.

To grill the pizza, place it on a grill surface spritzed with olive oil. Allow it to cook until done on one side. Carefully flip the dough (we find a cookie sheet is a good aide here), so the cooked side is facing up. Place your toppings on the cooked side, then close the lid of the grill. Allow the pizza to cook a few minutes more, until bottom is done and cheese is melted. Serve hot.

I make a lot of fancy desserts. But sometimes, due to time, or tastes, or whatever reason, I just need something a little simpler. Enter these cookies.

I made these for an office potluck a few weeks ago. A series of events–the scheduling of the event on a Tuesday, it being my night to make dinner, and my ability to totally forget something until it’s right upon me–made it so that I needed to make something in a hurry, that would still taste good.

Enter these cookies, which had caught my eye in Everyday Food magazine. But honestly, what doesn’t catch my eye in that magazine? I knew I wanted to make them, but I wasn’t sure when until I remembered the potluck. What a perfect dessert–light and crunchy–to end a heavy work food binge.

Lemon Poppy Cookies
Adapted from Everyday Food Magazine

These are lovely light tea cookies. Light and crispy, with a great lemon poppy flavor. If you’re a fan of light sweets, or lemon and poppy, this is one for you to try. And they’re so easy, they’re always something to keep in mind if you have to take something somewhere in a hurry.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. In a small bowl mix together sugar, egg yolks, poppy seeds, oil, lemon zest and vanilla. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture until combined (dough will be dry).

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls two inches apart onto two parchment lined sheets. Bake until golden brown 10-14 minutes. Transfer cookies while hot to racks.

You may have noticed, but I have a bit of a thing for rhubarb.

I think it’s really because I feel like for most of my life, there has been a severe rhubarb deficit. You see, I didn’t even discover rhubarb until we started going to local markets a few years ago. And then I didn’t know that liked, I mean, really LIKED it, until last year. When I made what was then the first annual incarnation of this pie.

Before I made this pie, I had enough experience with rhubarb to know that I enjoyed it’s tart kick in a sweet baked good. I knew it was very good in a lovely big crumb coffee cake, and a great companion vegetable in my go-to casual dessert, a good fruit crisp. I even knew that the idea of rhubarb pie was something to sing about, thanks to some prairie home time.

But it wasn’t until I innocently and unknowingly made this pie last June for a cookout at a friend’s that I discovered how truly AMAZING rhubarb is. Because together with strawberries, in a flaky, all-butter pie crust, rhubarb sings. And it hits ALL the high notes.

So if your looking for something to end this rhubarb season on a high note, may I suggest this pie?

And without further ado…I’ll let the pie take it away!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Adapted from Epicurious

Like all pies with a rolled crust, this is a little bit of work. But with the cinnamon filling and all of the bursting at the seams spring goodness, how can you resist?

Two tips for this pie. Use all-butter to make the crust, and make sure your water is ice cold by letting a few ice cubes float in a measuring cup with it before you measure it out. And don’t be tempted to pull this pie out as soon as the crust starts to brown. The pie must stay in the oven for about an hour and a half until the filling is good and bubbly if you want the center to set. Otherwise, it will be a really runny mess. It will still be plenty juicy if you let it bake the whole time, but the filling will be a bit thicker.

Ingredients:

For crust
3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks plus 7 tablespoons (yes that’s almost three sticks!) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
10 tablespoons (about) ice water

For filling
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed. I used frozen rhubarb and it worked great)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of cloves (optional, but yummy)

1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Directions:

Make crust:

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender or two forks, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add water, a few tablespoons at a time, using your hands to mix the water into the flour/butter mixture. Add water until all flour is incorporated or you’ve used all 10 tablespoons. Divide dough in half, flatten each half into a disc, and wrap each one in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.

Make filling:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.

Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. A pastry mat works really well here. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter pie dish. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch to 1-inch wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. If it seems like there is too much liquid, spoon some out. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling, weaving in and out if you want (I always do!). Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Brush glaze over crust, sprinkle top of pie with turbinado sugar or sparkling sugar (optional), and place pie on baking sheet, since this one has a tendency to splatter. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about 1 hour more. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely before cutting. This is important, because it helps the filling set up!

Enjoy a slice of spring heaven and sing a happy song!