Pie Success...sort of

I met Leah in 1984, during my stint as a Journalism Major at Utah State University (this was in-between my Home Economics Education major and the Family and Human Development degree that I eventually earned).  Leah was one reason to enjoy studying journalism.  We both went our separate ways, and I heard a bit about Leah here and there through the years since we have several mutual friends, but I didn't see her again until we reconnected this past year.  She volunteered to be a pie tester for The Pie Chronicles, so we had a great evening of catching up and eating pie.  It didn't hurt that our sons really hit it off - it was definitely not easy to tear them apart so Leah could take her boy home.  The pie I made turned out to be yummy.  Leah and the boys all gave it a "thumbs up".  I think it could have set up a bit more firmly, so next time I'll make it further in advance so it can have a longer refrigerator time!

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.

Orange Blossom Pie

3 eggs
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice (for me this was exactly how much juice I got from half an orange)
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 large orange peeled and segmented (I used mandarin oranges instead - a large can)
1 pie crust (allrecipes used a vanilla wager crust, I used my regular pastry crust)

1.  Beat the eggs until frothy.  Combine eggs, sugar, orange juice, and rind in a saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring constatnly, until very thick.  Remove from heat and stir in butter.  Chill completely in the refrigerator.
2.  Whip the cream to soft peaks.  Fold into chilled orange mixture.
3.  Arrange layer of orange sections in chilled crust.  Spoon chilled orange mixture into crust and top with additional orange sections.  Chill until ready to serve.