Yesterday we entered a period of time, right before the Fall Equinox, known as Ember Days. During the Fall, the Ember Days always fall on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after September 14th (the Feast of the Holy Cross in the Catholic tradition), so this year (2021) they fall on September 15th, 17th, and 18th.
The name “Ember Days” is derived from the Latin quattuor tempora, which means “Four Times” or “Four Seasons.” And they always occur before the Fall and Spring Equinoxes (where days are equal length) and the Winter and Summer Solstices (where night and day are the longest and shortest of the year). In the Christian church, these three days were set aside, four times a year, as way to celebrate the passing of each season with fasting, prayer, and time spent with family. The specific days of Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday refer to the days Jesus was betrayed, crucified, and entombed.
When I was a child in northern New Jersey, near the Ramapo Mountains, we celebrated the Fall Ember Days with the first of the fall festivals. And one of these festivals included a school trip to Tarrytown, NY where Washington Irving set his classic story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I’ve written before how much fun it was to visit Tarrytown with the bonfires, ghost stories, and pub meals reminiscent of the Van Tassel feast that the protagonist, Ichabod Crane, describes in the book. But there was another tradition in that part of the Hudson River Valley held in the early fall that everyone loved. Those Fall Ember Days were when the grapes that grew in the region were harvested to make local wine. While most of the grapes were pressed, some were reserved for baking pies and tarts as well as for preserving jams and jellies for the long winter ahead.
While I do love wine, one of my favorite foods found at the fall festivals in NY State are grape pies, also known as September Pies. The recipe below is one of my favorites because it’s loaded with grapes, apples, orange zest, and the best of the autumn spices. I also use my favorite Butter Pie Crust, but you’ll need to double the recipe for this pie.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and in case you’re interested, the next Ember Days will fall on December 15th, 17th, and 18th. Another holiday to plan for!
A random note: According to folklore, and the Farmer’s Almanac, the weather we have during the four Embertide periods will foretell the weather conditions for the next three months. So I’m grateful the weather this week has been warm and dry.
September Pie
Ingredients
Pie Filling
- 3 cups Concord grapes (no substitutions)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons flour
- 1 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoons salted butter
- 1 9" unbaked pie crust (your favorite recipe)
Streusel Topping
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup flour
- ¼ cup butter
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a 9" pie plate with an unbaked pie shell.
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Clean up the grapes by taking off the stems, washing them, and then draining them. Then squeeze the pulp from the skins into a small bowl. Set the skins aside in a different bowl.
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In a large saucepan, heat the grape pulp until it boils. Simmer for 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Then pour the pulp into a sieve over a bowl and squeeze out the tiny seeds from the pulp. Return this "clean" pulp to the saucepan.
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Stir the skins into the "clean" pulp in the saucepan. Stir them together and then add in the flour and sugar. Heat the saucepan over medium heat and cook the mixture until it thickens, 5-10 minutes, depending on your stove's heat.
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Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and butter. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Then pour the grape mixture into the unbaked pie shell.
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If you prefer a second pie crust on top of the pie, feel free to add that instead of the streusel topping.
Streusel Topping
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Make the topping by stirring together the brown sugar, flour, and butter until it's crumbly. Spread the topping over the pie and bake for 45-50 minutes, until the top is a light brown and the grape filling is bubbly.
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Cool for 10 minutes before serving with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
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