Talk about serendipity! When trying to choose what recipe to share with you guys this week, I remembered a fabulous apricot pie recipe that I cut out of the Mercury News food section last year (I made it too... and it is YUMMO). So I dig it out of my archives and, lo and behold, guess who the source was for the recipe? Patti Gonzales of Gonzales Orchards (see article in newsletter week 9 2001)! I remember they did a feature story on their orchards and this pie recipe got me drooling. It will not disappoint! - Debbie

Irresistible fresh apricot pie

(original recipe was for 2 pies... I halved it - Debbie)
1 tbsp. lemon juice
5 C pitted, sliced fresh apricots (about 2 lbs.)
1 C sugar
2 tbsp. quick-cooking tapioca
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Double-crust pastry for 1 9" pie
1 tbsp. butter or margarine
Cream or beaten egg

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Sprinkle lemon juice over apricots. Blend sugar, tapioca, and cinnamon; add to apricots and mix lightly. Let stand 15 minutes. Divide pastry in half. Roll out 1 piece to 1 1/2" larger than inverted pie plate. Fit crust into plate. Add apricot filling. Dot w/butter. Roll out second piece of pastry and cut into 11 strips to arrange lattice-fashion on pie. Trim and flute edge of crust. Brush strips w/cream or beaten egg. Bake for 40 minutes or until fruit in center of pie is cooked.

Note from Debbie: I added zest from a fresh orange for a little zip, but of course this is totally optional!

Note from Patti: If you want to bake the pie later, place filling in a large freezer bag. Dot w/butter. Squeeze our air and seal bag. Place bag into empty 9-inch pie plate, shaping to fit plate. Once frozen, pie plate can be removed. To bake, simply unwrap and place frozen filling in unbaked pie shell, add top crust and bake at 475 degrees for 60 - 70 minutes.