A Little Birdie & Peach Pie

If you've been following this blog for at least a few months, you know that I love pie baking.  And you're also aware that my pie crust skills are lacking!

My pies taste delicious but aren't very pretty.

So when I saw this little ceramic pie bird at the flea market recently, I just had to have her!

Pie birds, also known as crustholders, pie vents and pie chimneys, actually come in lots of different shapes, not just birds, but houses, people and all sorts of critters.  The small arch at the bottom allows steam to enter the hollow body and escape through its gaping mouth so that other piercing isn't necessary ~ just what a pastry-challenged gal like me needs!

All I did was lay the bottom crust in the dish, place the bird in the middle, filled the crust with the fruit and laid the top crust right over her, poking her beak through the crust.  This little birdie also helped support the upper crust ~ no collapsing!

This peach pie was delicious and pretty!

Thanks to Donna from Sugar Spice and Southern Life for sharing her famous Brown Sugar Cinnamon Peach Pie recipe ~ it's amaze-balls good!  Donna says I can share the recipe with you, so please be sure to pay her a visit, OK?

DONNA'S BROWN SUGAR CINNAMON PEACH PIE

Ingredients:

8 large, fresh, firm, ripe peaches (about 4 pounds)

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

Pie crust

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425

2.  Peel peaches, cut into 1/2 inch slices and cut slices in half.

3.  Stir together brown sugar and next 4 ingredients.  4.  Add peaches, stirring to coat

5.  Immediately spoon mixture into piecrust and dot with butter (do not make mixture ahead of time or it will become too juicy).

6.  Freeze pie 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, heat a cookie sheet in oven for 10 minutes.

7.  Place pie on hot cookie sheet and bake on lower oven rack 15 minutes.

8.  Reduce oven temperature to 375 and bake 40 minutes (cover loosely with foil to prevent excessive browning).

9.  Remove foil and bake for 25 more minutes or until juices are thick and bubbly.  Remove from oven and let cool for 2 hours before serving.

10.  Enjoy!

So what's your favorite pie?  Do tell and you're automatically entered to win one of these coin purses from Tracy's Treasures:

I'll draw three winners from all of your October comments, so the more you comment, the more chances you have to win!  Drawing is October 31st ~ good luck!