12 to 16 halved and pitted blue plums
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
1/4 tsp ground cloves or 1/2 teaspoon cardamon
pinch salt 2 tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
2 tbsp lemonjuice
1 tbsp butter
Pastry for one crust pie
Fill a 9 x 9 x 2 ” baking dish about 3/4 full with the plums places cut side down. Combine the sugar, cloves or cardamon, salt and tapioca and sprinkle over the fruit. Shake the dish slightly so that the sugar will sift down through the fruit. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and dot with the butter. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes.
Roll the pastry and cut nine 3″ circles from it. Remove the pie from the oven and place the circles of pastry over the fruit in a slightly overlapping design. Return the pie to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the fruit is tender and the pastry brown. Serve warm or cold.