Peachy Pie Bars

     On hot summer evenings, Pop "needs" his ice-cream fix so I thought a complimentary treat would be nice. For no special reason except that peaches are in season, I picked a new recipe for baking this weekend. (The peach crop in our part of the Midwest was hit hard by the severe winter and some of the orchards reported a 40% loss in fruit, but thankfully prices haven't risen sky-high - yet!) Perhaps another reason is that Pop LOVES pie as much or more than ice-cream. Anyway this dish differs a bit from a traditional pie because the crust contain an egg and is crispy yet slightly fluffy.

      Fresh peaches were added to a simmered sugar sauce and spiced with a big pinch of cinnamon and a little pinch nutmeg, and then spread over the bottom crust. The top crust was put in place and sprinkled with a drift of white sugar. A summer plus was that the bars baked in half the time a pie would have taken. After cooling completely, our peachy treat was cut and ready to eat. We thought that perhaps we would be saving calories by eating squares smaller then a pie wedge, but sabotaged that theory by having seconds!