Apple Butter Pie...or Pumpkin Butter Pie

I made one of these old-fashioned pies last night for a dinnertime treat...I had wanted to make apple pie but most of the apples had gotten eaten (need to stock up at the farm stand), so this was a good second choice. If you don't have apple butter (which is thicker and sweeter than applesauce--it's like cider cooked down to a spreadable consistency), you can use homemade pumpkin butter for a different taste.

Lotvarrick Pie (Apple Butter Pie), from Food That Really Schmecks by Edna Staebler

Pastry for a 9-inch pie (pat-in pastry works fine)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup apple butter
2 eggs, beaten
4 tbsp. butter, melted (I used margarine)
1 tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 cups milk
1/4 tsp. nutmeg for sprinkling

Mix the sugar, flour, soda and cream of tartar; blend in the melted butter, add the beaten eggs, apple butter, then the milk. Pour carefully into the pie shell and sprinkle with the nutmeg. Bake 10 minutes at 425 degress, then about 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until the custard is set (check with a paring knife). Although it's pretty when it comes out all puffed up, the pie is actually better if it's allowed to chill for awhile or even if you can make it the day before--like some pumpkin pies, it seems to slice better once it's had time to set.

Now a couple of warnings, from my own experience. First of all, this amount of filling will fill a good-sized deep-dish shell. If you have a small 9-inch pie pan, you might consider making two crusts and dividing the filling to avoid overflow. Another good idea is to put the whole thing on a cookie sheet before filling, just in case.

Also, if the filling does swish around the crust too much, you might end up with a bit of too-dark pie around the edges. Just slice off any black edge, and savour the rest--maybe with a small blob of whipped cream on top.