KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Abigail Covington searches for fresh ingredients to grace her made-from-scratch pies and pastries, she doesn’t have to look very far. The 21-year-old Joplin woman sells her creations under the name “Lady Abigail’s Bakery” at the Webb City Farmers Market.

When she can, Covington buys the fresh fruits for her pastries from the vendors at the market.

For the past several weeks, Covington has been baking peach pies using the fresh peaches she purchases at the market from the Pate Orchard. Because the wait in line for the peaches at the market can be quite lengthy, Covington said the folks at the orchard try to set a supply of the fruit aside for her. She also buys strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and other market products during growing seasons.

Covington spent almost two years at the farmers market working for Bert Ott’s Black Forest House bakery before striking out on her own. Although she didn’t do much baking for Ott, she learned a lot about the business side of baking and how the Webb City market works. Covington said she considers Ott to be one of her mentors.

“He comes down and give me tips,” Covington said of Ott.

A few years ago, Covington tried her hand at selling homemade cookies and brownies, but she wasn’t able to do so on a large scale because, at the time, she didn’t have a certified commercial kitchen. She updated her kitchen after she

decided to become her own boss.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” she said.

Running a personal business can be a scary proposition, but Covington insists her leap into the retail side of baking wasn’t scary for her.

“I just did it,” she said. “The hardest thing to figure out was how to cook everything in a small kitchen.”

Covington said it takes about 12 hours to bake the 12 to 15 pies she typically sells at the market. The rest of her time is spent baking cakes, cookies, cinnamon rolls and treats, such as her chocolate-covered pretzels and marshmallows.

Baking is something that Covington has been doing most of her life. Her grandmother was a big cooking influence, as was Covington’s older sister.

“I like to take a recipe, build on it and make it better,” she said.

One of the neat things about cooking, Covington said, is the fact that recipes don’t usually come with copyrights.

“I can take a recipe, add to it and it becomes mine,” she said

An example of that, she said, is her upside-down apple pie. Covington said the original recipe for the pie came from a “Taste of Home” magazine.

“I then used a different crust, added different flavoring and a gourmet caramel sauce on top of the pie,” she said.

She used a similar creative process to put together what she calls her “Razzle Dazzle Pie,” a delight made with fresh raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and a crumb topping. Her blueberry-strawberry pie calls for a graham cracker crust with whipped cream and cream cheese filing, and is topped with fresh strawberries and blueberries.

Covington sells her pastries on Tuesdays and Fridays at the Webb City Farmers Market in King Jack Park from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Perfect apple pie

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup shortening

4 tablespoons cold water

Filling:

7 cups thinly sliced peeled baking apples

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon water

In a bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in shortening. Gradually add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing lightly with a fork until dough forms a ball. Chill for 30 minutes.

On a floured surface, roll half of dough into a 10-inch circle. Place into a 9-inch pie pan.

In a bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg; add to apples and toss. Pour into crust; dot with butter.

Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie; cut slits in top. Place over filling; seal and flute edges. Beat egg yolk and water; brush over pastry. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees; bake 40-45 minutes more or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.

Source: allrecipes.com

Peach blueberry pie

1 pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie

3 cups sliced peaches

1 cup blueberries

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons margarine, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place one pie crust into a pie plate.

Toss peaches and blueberries in a bowl with lemon juice. Mix sugar, tapioca and salt in a small bowl and add to peach mixture; stir to combine. Allow fruit to rest for 15 minutes, then transfer to prepared pie plate.

Scatter margarine pieces over fruit and brush the edge of the pie with water. Cover pie with remaining crust; press and seal the top and bottom crusts. Bake in preheated oven until crust is golden brown and fruit is bubbly Ñ about 45 to 50 minutes.

Source: allrecipes.com