The Tenacity of One Branch.

On the outside of our fence stands an old apricot tree; probably dates back to when the pioneers settled in Monticello.  The land my home sits on was a farm once, and happily a couple of apricot trees, and many Italian plum, still remain.  Last year we did not get any fruit, as a killing frost hit the trees in May, and destroyed all the blossoms.  The same occurred this year, so the change of fruit was none again. 

One day last week I was playing ball with one of my dogs, Lucy; and it got stuck behind a pile of wood near the fence.  Lying on the ground I saw these small orange colored balls and wondered, "What the heck?"  They were apricots and I looked up into the branch that was over the fence and sticking into the yard.  Well that little bugger of a branch was a smart one; it had hidden itself inside an over hang on the tool shed we had just built last year, and it was full of fruit!  By doing that, the fruit blossoms had survived the frost and given us a small bounty.  Hurriedly I got my gathering basket out of the garden shed, and picked all the fruit that was ripe, and bugs and/or birds had not gotten to yet.  I ended up with 40 apricots; Roy ate about 16 of them, and I decided to bake a dessert with the remainder.

Now the only dessert I'd ever made with apricots was a crumble; last time Roy told me he was bored with this one.  I'd been on a pie making binge lately, so had an extra pie crust in the fridge; a pie it was then!  In the freezer was half a pint of blueberries, and thought to add these to add color and taste. 

Apricot Blueberry Pie

 

Ingredients:

 

2 dozen apricots, washed and pitted

1/2 pint frozen blueberries

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

 

Preparation:

 

Preheat oven to 425F.

 

In a medium bowl, gently mix together apricots and blueberries with the sugar; set aside.

 

Spread the oats onto the bottom of the pie crust; spread the fruit mixture over the oats.  Bake for 40 minutes.

 

Drizzle the butter over the fruit filling; sprinkle brown sugar over; bake for 5 minutes, or until the brown sugar is melted.  Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

 

Makes one pie.

 

Roy loved the pie; tart yet sweet; juicy and very flavorful.

 

Mary Cokenour