Oatmeal Pie - You Want Pie With That? : Vacation Pies

Welcome to my first entry into You Want Pie With That?! YWPWT is a monthly blog event where members make a pie based on a theme picked by the member that was picked as having the best pie from a past month. I first heard about this group from my friend Hornedfroggy at My Baking Heart - aka the same person who got me to join Tuesdays with Dorie. HF told me that YWPWT is a total blast and that I'd love it, and, like always, I listened and joined in - and here we are!

This month's theme was picked by Jen at Piccante Dolce. The theme is Vacation Pies and you were supposed to whip up a pie that reminded you of your favorite vacation or one you wanted to take. Well, at first I was coming up with all kinds of fruity pies in honor of my favorite place ever - Florida. I loved vacationing there growing up and would love to live there - if I wasn't pretty sure I'd melt in about 1.345 days.

But then I started thinking about specific vacation memories from growing up and realized that most of them involved trips to see my grandparents, who used to live in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I tried to think of any pies that really stood out to me from those trips spent walking the golf course looking for lost balls with my grandfather, going to get gallons of the incredible tasting city water with my grandmother, turning into a giant prune from hours spent in the pool at their condo complex, eating big bowls of ice cream every night, and riding around the beautiful mountains with my family in my grandparent's minivan. I had a few ideas, but nothing that really stuck out at me.

So, I decided that if I couldn't come up with a pie that made me think of my own grandparents then one that made me think of my best friend's grandparents was a good substitute. I've known my best friend practically forever; her parent's moved next door to my other set of grandparents when we were pretty young and we used to spend hours playing together in her backyard - usually torturing her brother. I've spent lots of time over the years with her family - and a huge portion of them even came to our wedding (and her grandma made our flower girl's dress). So when she told me about this recipe of her grandma's that her dad loved and always asked for I knew I should give it a try. And when my friend posted the recipe on her blog recently I couldn't help but drool.

This recipe, though I've never had it before, really makes me think of happy, cozy minutes spent visiting my grandparents. It uses simple ingredients that my grandmother would have had, it's a taste my grandfather would have loved, it makes your house take on that sweet, comforting, homey smell, and it makes you think of cool fall days (which was always a great season to visit my grandparents).

So, please enjoy my first entry for You Want Pie With That? A simple, lovely pie passed down in a family that's pretty darn close to my heart and that makes me think back on vacation days spent running around Arkansas with my family.

Oatmeal Pie

Based on a family recipe from my friend Sarah

3/4 Cup Quick Cooking Oats

3/4 Cup Sugar

1 Stick of Butter, melted

2 Eggs, beaten

3/4 Cup Maple or Pancake Syrup

3/4 Cup Pecans

1- 9" Pie Shell, uncooked (store bought or homemade)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare crust.

Mix oats and syrup. Add in melted butter. Add sugar and beaten eggs, mix well. Add in pecans.

Pour into pie shell.

Bake on middle rack of oven for 30 to 45 minutes, or until cooked through.

Great with whipped cream, ice cream (which my grandfather would have loved), or on it's own.

Check out Sarah's blog for the original recipe and to see some optional ideas to tweak this great pie.