Oatmeal Crumble Cherry Pie
8 slices

1/2 cup water
1 large sweet apple
8 cherries, chopped in half and deseeded
1 can cherry pie filling 
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 Dashes of nutmeg
Zest of an orange (optional) 
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup cereal (I used honey-nut cheerios)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 TB margarine or butter, softened
Pie crust–homemade or store-bought


Tools:
Knife + Cutting board
Small pot + Lid
Medium bowl
Spatula 
1 gallon Ziploc bag
Pie pan + Cookie sheet


STEPS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat water in pot on high. Chop apple into small bits using knife, and toss apples into pot. Cover with lid and let apples boil.
2. In the meantime, in the Ziploc bag, add in oats, cereal, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and last dash of nutmeg. Remove the air and seal the bag. Using your fist or the back of a measuring spoon, crush the oats mixture for 30 seconds. (Don’t overcrush to crumbs.) Add margarine and seal bag. Using hands on outside of bag, coat oat mixture with margarine.  Set aside.
3. Pour can of cherry filling into medium bowl, using spatula. Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 dashes of nutmeg, and the orange zest. Add cooked apples to cherry filling and stir. Using spatula, pour filling into pie pan. Using hands, open the bag of oat mixture and sprinkle crumble on top of pie filling.
   
4. Put pie pan on a cookie sheet to catch possible drips. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until crumble has browned and bottom of crust feels baked with a knife tapping the bottom. Eat! Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, and serve with coffee or tea.

 All of this cherry talk reminds me of a quote:

Let’s just hope Dorothy Parker was talking about innocently swinging from a tree and not hanging. Have you ever seen the cherry blossoms in D.C. in the spring? Marvelous!


When I lived in Boston, the street that my apartment was on had incredible cherry blossoms bloom in the spring (which really started in May there). Here’s an old pic and a fun memory:

But back to pie. Enjoy, eat, be merry.