Each Peach Pear Plum

The last line of one of my favorite children's books, Each Peach Pear Plum, is about a plum pie sitting in the sun, and each time I read it and see the plump pie on a table in the yard and then Robin Hood feeding baby bunting a heaping spoonful of plum pie, I wish I had a plate of pie, too. (This happens to me -- I'm very swayed by images of food. More than once, Ben and I have been watching a show at night during which there's a commercial for ihop and have stopped everything to make a batch of pancakes...).

At the beginning of the summer, the kids and I made a huge list on butcher paper of all the things we wanted to do together this summer, one of which included Pie-Day-Friday-Movie-Night each week (pie day friday inspired by my brother and sister-in-law Eli and Hollie), which we have kept up pretty well so far.

week one:

-a so-so strawberry-nectarine pie and Mr. Rogers crayon factory and Eric Carle episodes highlight reel

week two:

-blackberry cake-crumble and a birthday party out (no movie)

week three:

-plum pie and the Sound of Music with BB!

This past week my mom came to town. Though she is in a boot from ankle surgery, she walked up to the park, strolled through the farmers' market sampling nectarines and plums, stood in a hot kitchen making huge batches of scrambled eggs, walked down to the ocean, picnicked in the park, visited the library for summer reading prizes, met some of our new friends, asked Ben and me hard life questions, read to Silas early in the mornings, and kept us company. And on Friday joined us for Pie Day Friday Movie Night, the first double crust pie I've made:

plum pie in the sun

We used an America's Test Kitchen recipe for a pie crust that calls for vodka -- a supposed secret to a tender crust, which it was, and for the filling, Carrie P's plum pie recipe. The end result was a beauty. Silas has been eating two slices a day for days now.

Carrie P's Plum Pie

*my pie was a tiny bit tart, which surprised me since the pluots were so sweet. Were I to

make it again, I'd try 1 c sugar

3/4 C Sugar
2 T tapioca
1 T cornstarch
1/4t cinnamon
1/4 t ginger
3 lbs plums
1 T butter
Double pie crust

Mix ingredients and pour into pie crust. Dot with butter. Put 2nd crust on top. Bake on cookie sheet at 450 for 20 minutes then 375 for 20 minutes. Let cool 2 hours or more.