Pleasantly Plum Pie.

It's plum delicious. And fragrant with cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom.

There also isn't a proper plum in sight of it. As the stone fruit season is at its height, I was feeling inspired - and in desperate want of comfort food. This pie is actually filled with nectarines and red, ripe pluots.

Plus, it happens to be fracking delicious and wholly bloody adorable.

I've made the most out of Labor Day weekend by keeping things at a leisurely pace. I took the time to read, clean my kitchen, wash my hair every day... and eat lunch. All those pesky things I don't find time for during a work week. So spending a half hour humming away as I peeled pluots and noshed on their skins seemed in order with events. I've been tired, frustrated and out of sorts lately, and I can't really doubt the wisdom of tabling all the things I should be working on for the past few days. I've reached the conclusion that I needed absolutely every second of down time I've taken, and I'm going to wring out a little more before the day is done.

And, with a little luck, I'll successfully inspire you to bake something beautiful.


SPICED STONE FRUIT PIE
For the crust:
* 3 cups all purpose unbleached flour
* 1 cup butter or vegan margarine, cold
* 1 tsp salt, or to taste
* 2 tsp sugar
* 3 Tbs cold water

For the filling:
* 3 lbs assorted stone fruits, any variety
* 1 cup sugar, plus extra for dusting
* 1-2 tsp cardamom
* 1/2 tsp cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp nutmeg
* 1/2 tsp allspice
* 3-4 Tbs cornstarch

Wash your fruit, then trace an incision all around the middle of the fruit with a sharp knife. Twist the two halves - if your fruit is ripe enough, they'll come apart cleanly. The nectarines were very firm fleshed and didn't cooperate so well, so I carefully sliced them off the stone - the pluots were more forgiving, and I even managed to peel the skins off with ease. Not so with the nectarines - I abandoned my effort at peeling them, so do what you will in that regard. Slice them into even 1/2 inch pieces, and set aside.

To make crust, combine flour, sugar and salt thoroughly. Add the butter or margarine in thin pats, about 1/8 - 1/4 in width - if you aren't using stick butter, thumb off tiny spoonfuls into the flour mixture. Blend slowly with a large wooden spoon as well as you can, then knead with your hands until the mixture forms doughy crumbles. Add water and knead until the desired consistency is achieved - you may need more water to hold the pastry together, just until it can be formed into a large ball without crumbling.

Divide the dough into two balls, then squish them into thick, flat patties for rolling out on a lightly floured surface. Dust flour over the top of the first patty, then roll out to the appropriate size. Use the rolling pin slowly, as this crust is quite light and flaky. The edges of your growing disc may crack and try to pull apart as you go - tuck the edges of the round under to keep tears from forming, and gently roll them out. Maneuver your pastry into a pie tin via any act of sorcery of your choice - I roll my crust out on floured foil, slide both hands beneath it like a spatula, then flip it quickly into the tin.

Arrange the fruit in the tin, taking care to make a higher mound in middle that tapers out level toward the edges. Pour sugar, spices and cornstarch over the filling evenly - alternatively, you could toss these with the fruit before placing them in the pie. Roll out your second patty of pastry dough to an even round, and cover the pie with it.

Trim the edges if they hang down the sides of the pie tin, then carefully pinch together edges of top and bottom crusts and fold them under, creating a soft rise of dough all around. Flute the edges by gently pinching the crust down and outward at regular intervals - it should look crenelated all around, as in the picture. Alternatively, you can use a fork to make attractive indentations around the pie edges, or just leave them unadorned, but do make sure there is a seal between the two layers of crust - the filling will turn very liquid while baking and may seep out. Dust with sugar if desired.

To vent the pie, cut at least four large notches in the center - or use a cookie cutter and make cutesy shapes, like I did. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Take a piece of foil, and fold it in the center to make a 'tent' - place this loosely over the pie before sliding it onto the top rack of the oven. If you used my tip and rolled out your dough on foil, feel free to fold it over and reuse it for this.

Bake for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling up out of the holes and the sugar and cornstarch are no longer visible.

If your pie is too watery, you can let it firm up in the fridge before demolishing it - but nothing beats a hot plum pie, take it from me. If you used a preponderance of wetter, less firm fleshed fruits, lean on the heavier side with the cornstarch.

I had a slice for breakfast. It's quite tasty cold... enjoy. :)

Vegan Raw Balls: BIZZOMB.

I hate to go there. You know, the "rawer-than-thou" place that makes everyone secretly cringe in the presence of self-absorbed health food enthusiasts, but I've got to give a thumbs up to the raw ball craze, because these babies are really good. "Superfood" is a bit of a stretch, "energy balls" I'm not yet sold on, and if you think something half composed of ground up nuts isn't ungodly fattening, you might be delusional.

But these unassuming little fruit and nut goods definitely have a place at my table - plus, they're extremely easy to make and meet my laziest threshold of "cooking" criteria, and you'll only need a blender and one food storage container if you play your cards right. (I did)

I tested a batch of these at work - one person asked for the recipe, and half of my co-workers came back for seconds!

SWEET SESAME RAW BALLS
7 dried whole dates
4-6 dried whole apricots
1 cup raw pecan pieces
1/2 tsp agave nectar
sesame seeds to coat

Soak dried fruit in a bowl of warm water for as long as your patience holds. Mine lasted somewhere between ten and fifteen minutes... so long as they become more pliable and have some substance to them when lightly squeezed. Remove from water and shake off excess, then transfer to a blender or food processor. Blend into a sticky paste - there may be small chunks, but it should really be more like a spread than a tampenade. You may have to scrape the mixture down toward the blades with a spoon a couple of times as it sticks to the sides of the blender. Spoon out the resulting paste and set it aside. Transfer the pecans to your blender and grind them into a fine-ish consistency. It should be soft and fluffy, not terribly chunky. Mix the fruit paste back into the blender and scrape the mixture down toward the blades. Add agave nectar and any extras you want to throw in at this point. Blend the mixture into a sticky paste, then spoon out into a bowl. Roll them into balls of desired size with your hands, then roll in sesame seeds or garnish of your choice to coat.

Lots of directions, but not time intensive. I used a food processor with a very short body and it took about five minutes.

The resulting balls should look something like this. Except, y'know, more date and apricot colored. These have about a tablespoon of dark chocolate blended in, and half were rolled in excess ground almonds.

I really wanted to add coconut to these, but Torr is allergic - hence the rolling in sesame seeds. These would be super delicious with unsweetened coconut flakes, cacao, dried berries, or anything else you want to add. I tried to go for a 50/50 date to apricot ratio in part because dried apricots are notably lower in sugar and calories and these balls are very sweet already, but you can use different proportions or forgo the apricots altogether. Figs would probably work well. I don't know if apricots or other dried fruits are sticky enough to bind together by themselves if you're not a date and fig fan... I imagine anything soaked in water long enough would become increasingly agreeable, but these have a really nice chewy yet soft texture.

Ooh, that's right. You'll never pay for a Kind bar again.

Go forth, experiment, dare I say FREEBALL? (!!!)

Cheers!