Okay, so I said I wasn’t going to brag about my cooking skills. But I changed my mind. haha.

Last week I was invited to attend a “Friends Thanksgiving”, and asked to make a dessert. I’ve always wanted to delve into the art of pie making but never had a good excuse, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity. And of course, being a faithful employee of the Whole Grains Council, I figured while I was taking on the piecrust adventure, I might as well make it a whole grain one. I decided to make a blueberry pie, because they’re my favorite, and I chose the recipe for “Blueberry Pie with a Twist”, on the King Arthur Flour website. And so, the adventure began!

First, it turns out you can’t use plain old whole wheat flour for a pie crust (who knew?), you have to have whole grain pastry flour. So locating the correct flour was my first adventure – I had to hunt through several grocery stores before finally finding the right thing – Arrowhead Mills (a Whole Grains Council member!) Organic Whole Grain Pastry Flour, which I found at Whole Foods. Proper flour in hand, I gathered up the rest of the ingredients – frozen blueberries, red wine (oh yes!), butter, sugars, and spices. I even bought my first rolling pin – a pretty one with red handles.

The next part of my adventure was sifting through all the advice offered by my coworkers, friends, and family. It seems everyone has a theory about what makes the best piecrust, and they’re all different. Keep the butter as cold as possible, use shortening instead of butter, use your hands to mix the dough, whatever you do DON’T use your hands – my mind was spinning! I decided the one person whose opinion in these matters was the most important to me was my mom, and I wished she could be in the kitchen with me, guiding my every move. So I did the next best thing – I got her on Skype, and put my laptop on the kitchen counter!

With the help of my mom via webcam, I successfully crafted a piecrust – using my hands just a bit, but not too much – rolled it out, and put in the filling. It was a bit tricky, but overall it went off without a hitch. And after it came out of the oven, I have to say, I was quite impressed – it didn’t look exactly picture perfect, but it looked pretty darn good! I brought it to dinner on Saturday, and the reviews were very positive – my first successful pie! My baking confidence has reached a new high, and I will definitely be making this one again!

For the full recipe, go to the King Arthur Flour Company website  – another wonderful Whole Grains Council member, with some fantastic recipes.

- Molli

Remember the entry yesterday when I told you about the freakin’ cool Flower Bus I bought? Below are two pictures of the bus and of my window! Indeed, the Flower Bus really looks great by the window.

I actually think it’s one of the coolest stuff I have in my room, maybe even the coolest one.

Today it’s Father’s Day and my grandparents are coming for dinner so that both I and my mom can celebrate our fathers. My mom will make a delicious dinner and I’ll make a blueberry pie for dessert.

I hope all of you will also celebrate this special day!

Updates:

1. Karen called to say our stone was being delivered to her studio yesterday. I’ll get over there very soon.
2. Did I tell you that my friend Alex (with dementia) was moved to his hometown of Washington, PA to be nearer his brother and his brother’s family? Yes, Alex is no longer brightening our town or punctuating our days with his finger jabs into the air.
3. Maria is now home. I don’t know how to describe where she is in her recovery…she smiles a lot. She laughs when she can’t swing that left leg and get it to walk. I’m like, “Tell it to go, Maria.” She laughs when she stumbles over and over again in speech….says “basketball” rather than “bathroom.” “Spit it out, Maria,” I say. She laughs and gives it another go. She thinks we are wonderful. And let me tell you that Deb is wonderful. She goes over and takes care of Maria when Jim can’t be there; and afterward Maria can’t remember Deb was there. Deb has spent many hours and uncomfortable nights in an old recliner away from home, and Maria can’t remember it the next time we see her. But she sure has a soft spot for Deb, so I think she knows on some deeper level. Better yet…I know, Honey.
4. Speaking of honey…the bees are still flying around, but they aren’t making honey for us. They’re preparing themselves for winter. They look at me as if to say, “Hey. Back off. You’ll get your honey when we’re all settled in over here and not a minute before.” Cool. I can understand that. I think I’ll start treating them to sugar water again to lessen their work a bit.
5. Yesterday we did a little research from the office into Christopher R*ll. We are good researchers. I’m sorry to report that he is apparently married. Shit. Sorry, Mary. And he does have a daughter named R*cken.
6. I am on some losing streaks.
7. We’re off to the farm this weekend. Gotta paint the kitchen down there. I hate painting kitchens. I love eating breakfast at the Lunch Box, though.
8. The gathering last night was really a lot of fun.
9. I make a very delicious blueberry pie.
10. Lots of people went home smiling with blue teeth.

I adore Cecily's Zombie Glam parties <3

She felt like a monster. She was a monster. An uncontrollable, mindless animal. How this came to happen she wasn’t sure of, but one thing was for sure: she had been bitten. Bitten by a beast, a savage, a demon! The lowest of the low. Who would end this poor girl’s pain? Where was the hero?

It is October. Reality has crept in.

Pumpkins, zucchinis, a medley of squashes, scalding hot chocolate, sweet candy corn, that tantalizing scent of cinnamon, fresh-baked breads, warm fruit pies, fragrant apple spice cakes…

What human could disregard the gifts October brings us?

Does this carrot cake look familiar?

Well, I don’t believe any sane human could ignore every one of those luscious offerings and that is why I am making it my fall promise to give in to whatever fall treats my palate desires… regardless of how much ED screams, roars, and hollers.

——————————-

This past week horrified me.

Not because it was bad.

But because it was good.

I proved to myself of how capable I am of overcoming my eating disorder. The day after my nutritionist appt., I met my required weight gain calories. I challenged myself to eat pizza on Friday: two whole slices of thin crust pizza along with the cheese off of a third slice entered my mouth. ED commanded me to trash the cheese on that third slice but I was able to argue with it and say, “I want the fucking cheese.”

Don’t get me wrong, I am beyond proud of myself, but I am just spooked. I am just spooked and uncomfortable. It is almost as though being under ED’s dictatorship and being told I look “grim” is a comfort. Am I twisted?

——————————-

HIGHLIGHTS:

Friday’s Breakfast: 1/2 c. Swiss Muesli mixed with Oikos greek yogurt, pistachios, 1/2 c. blueberries and generously sprinkeld with cinnamon. Co-star: vanilla Carnation Instant Breakfast (2%)

Friday’s Lunch: Mushroom sunflower seed tofu stir-fry with 3 Alexia Mozzarella Stix, 1/2 c. pasta sauce, and applesauce.

-Choco-Bberry-PB Breakfast Smoothie-

-1 packet rich milk chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast mixed w/ 2% milk

-3/4 c. plain yogurt

-1/2 c. blueberries

-1 tbsp Peanut butter, 1/2 tbsp. Almond butter

-2 tbsp. oat bran

-2 tsp. sugar or other sweetener

I had this smoothie to get me going on Saturday, which is when I have ballet rehearsal from 10 AM to 4 PM. I can’t have a lot of bulk before dance so this smoothie really helped me pack in extra calories beside my organic mini waffles w/ Brummel and Brown spread. Not to mention it tasted like a blueberry peanut butter cup! Reese’s should get more creative because I am waaaay ahead of them.

Friday’s Lunch: Mushroom & Quinoa tofu stir fried with 1 tbsp. olive oil (!!!!!) and 1 oz. Alexia aged cheddar waffle chips.

Highlight of my Sunday…

1 c. Kashi Heart to Heart honey toasted oat cereal, 1/2 c. Lucky Layla’s drinkable Pina Colada yogurt, 1/2 c. blueberries, pistachios, and a strawberry Carnation Instant Breakfast (2%)

I would continue to write and tell you all some sort of tale (since my brain never runs out of ideas) but I don’t quite feel myself today. I had to call my mom to pick me up from rehearsal yesterday because I felt so weak. There is a flu circulating my area, so I sure hope I am not coming down with that.

I will, however, leave you all with a quote by Robert Collier to think about. I hope you get as much from it as I did:

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”

There it is, staring at you while you’re up at the register, fruit spilling out of its gaping maw. Then you see the sign claiming it’s the best blueberry pie in DC. And you end up giving in.

Is a slice of pie worth $6? In this case, no. There just wasn’t anything particularly interesting about it. The blueberries were rubbery, like tiny bobas. While it was nice that there was so much fruit (vs. the syrupy goop that accompanies the fruit in canned filling), the flavor needed some oomph, like a sprinkle of spice. The crust was also blah.

After eating this, I had dessert remorse. That feeling you get when you’ve wasted the calories, which could have gone toward something much more delicious. Like a Trader Joe’s chocolate mousse collaboration.

The sad thing was, the couple next to us saw us eating this and went up to get their own slice. I wish I’d warned them. Even though I’m a big fan of Tackle Box’s food (grilled trout, grilled calamari, fried catfish), I’ll probably steer clear of their desserts.

http://tackleboxrestaurant.com/

As I mentioned briefly in an earlier post, it can be pretty difficult to find a decent beer to drink in Northern Quebec. After another decent day of biking we arrived in Dolbeau-Mistassini and more importantly our excellent accomodations for the evening. La Magie du Sous-Bois is a nice little berry farm located in the area which also runs a b&b. The room was quite nice and the service was excellent, despite some serious language barriers. They even had fresh baked pie available. It doesn’t hurt that the room was also fairly inexpensive.

mmm... fresh pie

What was less impressive was the restaurant selection in Dolbeau-Mistassini. We biked into town to go to a restaurant and after checking out some very sketchy local places we eventually settled for Mike’s, which is a fairly prominent Quebec chain. They seem to be pretty much everywhere. Not a terrible restaurant chain I guess, but the beer selection left something to be desired. In the end, we figured if you are in Quebec you might as well review what everyone is actually drinking. In this case, Molson Export. The beer was so boring we didn’t actually discuss it much.

Nothing says Northern Quebec like a semi-cold Molson Export at Mike's Restaurant.

Our Take:

SW – Cheap. That’s a plus.

KT – Fits the decor of this town.

SW – With this beautiful downtown?

KT – Hopefully the food will come quickly to mask the taste of this beer.

SW – It’s not gross, I just don’t know why anyone would chose to drink this regularly.

KT – It’s a bit gross. You are lucky I wasn’t here when you ordered it. Used to like it in school, but that might have been Rickards.

SW – It’s better when it’s really cold I think. My roommate used to buy this and it wasn’t this bad. Maybe they make it worse so Quebecers will like it. Either way, light flavour, no personality, very thin head, a bit of lingering aftertaste and a gold colour. Not very distinctive at all.

Our Scores:

KT – C     SW – C

Drink Again?

When necessary.

I can’t lie – after over two years of knitting, some of the romance is gone.  The initial thrill has long since disappeared, and while I (almost) always enjoy the process and love the beautiful yarns, it’s become harder and harder to achieve that “wow I made this!” high.

Once in a while, though, a certain yarn will come along and it’ll marry itself to a lovely pattern and even though they were both fine on their own, there’s something about the combination – the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

Such was the case when this lovely “Knit me Now” sock yarn in the ‘blueberry pie’ colorway found its way into my hands at Yarn Harbor and wandered from Minnesota to Missouri.

I wound it Monday night on my way out the door to Stitch ‘n Pitch and started working a turned picot cuff then my favorite waffle-stitch pattern – one I can do with my eyes closed (or, um, while watching a baseball game).

Little did I know that this would turn out to be one of my favorite WIP’s ever.

The yarn is amazingly squishy and springy and wonderful, and it’s just a *titch* heavier than standard fingering weight.  Coupled with the super-cozy waffle pattern, this sock is a dream to work on.

It’s simultaneously a process knit *and* a product knit.  I can’t wait to have the finished socks on my feet, but in the meantime I absolutely adore every stitch I knit.

Maybe it’s a carryover from the good mood earlier this week, but with every.single.stitch of these socks, I get a little burst of happiness.  It’s really pretty ridiculous how much fun I’m having with this knit – the colors are wonderful, reds and whites and blues that combine in a decidedly patriotism-free way.  None of the reds are a “true” red (they’ve all got hints of pink, in various doses) and all of the blues remind me of ablueberry (hmm wonder why?).

Of course, things always go more quickly when you’re having fun.  This sock leg has fallen down the needles faster than I can believe; I’m clocking over 20 rows per day just from my train knitting.  Already, the photo above (from Tuesday night) is sorely outdated; I’ll probably be starting the heel flap tomorrow morning.

I’ll be sad to see these finished, but I can’t wait to have them on my feet.  I love this yarn, and I know I’ll love these socks.

What a wonderful feeling.

I love knitting.

Did I ever tell you that?

Ok, so that’s the Alameda Webster Street Jam – but it’s going to be a great weekend full of fun music, food and festivities!

I have lots of new items that I will probably only have this weekend (because once they sell out I won’t make them any more) such as special Glycerin Soaps, Gel or  Soy wax candles in scents such as Sunshine, Blueberry Pie, Crushed Ginger, and Purely Herbal.

I will also have some of my fall scents out such as Perfect Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie, Eggnog, Candy Corn, Christmas Wreath and Apples & Spice.

Blueberry Pie

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups blueberries
1 pastry for double-crust pie

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Combine sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt; toss with blueberries.
Line 9-inch pie plate with pastry.
Add blackberry mixture.
Adjust top crust; cut slits to allow steam to escape.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

While in New Hampshire we visited the Canterbury Shaker Village. The village was now a museum since there only three Shakers left in the US. The Shakers are a branch of the Quakers.  One of the things that I did not know about the Shakers is that they were a celibate sect. They increased their numbers by adopting orphans. The orphans were given an option to leave the sect when they turned 18. The Shakers are known for their simplicity. This is demonstrated in their furniture, farm buildings, and even their pies.

We had a pocket pie at the Shaker Village. Pocket pies are now the new rage. William-Sonoma is currently offering pocket pie mold. The pocket pie that we had was a simpler version, no mold required.

The Shaker women rolled out a large rectangle pastry made from flour, shortening, sugar, salt and milk. They would then put dabs of filling (usually a fruit filling) about 3 inches apart on the pastry. Then fold the pastry over and then cut them into individual servings, usually in a square. An opening was cut in the center of each square to let the steam escaped while cooking.  The pies were baked and then given to the men to take to the fields to eat as a morning snack. The pocket pie that we had was a wonderful blueberry in a circle shape. This was a wonderful treat of flaky pastry and sweet, gooey filling.

Pies available in-house or to-go. Sold by the slice.

Location: Woodley Park/Adams Morgan, Washington D.C.

Price: $3.95 per slice.

Types: Pie is baked fresh daily so options vary. On the day I visited, they had Apple, Blueberry, Cherry Crumb and Maple Pecan.

Web site

Blueberry

The blueberry pie was a traditional two-layer pie. The blueberries themselves were small, like the kind you find in Maine, but cooked only slightly so they were still plump and chewy. The filling itself was very sweet, overly sweet, with a heavy dose of blueberry flavor. The crust was average, more doughy than flaky.

Filling: ♥ 1/2 (out of 4)

Crust: ♥♥

Cherry Crumb

The cherry pie had the same doughy bottom crust but with a lightly sweet crumb topping. The filling had a subtle cherry flavor with a noticeable dose of cinnamon. The cherries themselves were plump and chewy.

Filling: ♥♥

Crust: ♥♥ 1/2

actually, i have ambivalent feelings about pie. seriously. that’s not just for comic effect. i have only recently attempted to make them, and i haven’t always been successful. and, in a “Cake or Pie?” kind of scenario, it’s always going to be cake, as far as i’m concerned. But last night I thought I should go with the season, bringing blueberry pie to greet my cousin-in-law for the first time. Instead, I wound up proffering…”blueberry soup”. um, who forgot the flour????

but i am not a quitter. tonight, Try No.2 of the Great Pie War of 2009.
behold the majesty of…

PIE!!!

CLOSE UP OF PIE!

CLOSER UP OF PIE!

enough with photos of the triumphant victuals. instead, let me pose a Question O’ the Day: What is your kitchen nemesis? What thing would you love to make, that always turns out…meh?

hi all!  はじめまして！　i’m janet, and this is my first post on this journal (though i’ve been lurking around here for quite some time =P).  i’m a friend of kookie’s, whom i met back in september ‘08 when i was doing my practicum in saarbrücken =)  i’m living in vancouver at the moment, and i’m not a Ph.D student (i’m not even a Master’s student…yet), but i DO love food and writing about it, so here’s my first (of hopefully many) contribution to this journal!

i dunno why i was suddenly inspired to make German food (maybe it has something to do with the fact that Silke finally replied to my email from a a month ago!), but i decided that i should try to make flammkuchen, since i really missed it.  i also made blueberry pie – the local white spot makes a delicious one that mines is based off of – because it’s been blistering hot here, and blueberries were on sale (and if there are two foods that i think define vancouver, they’re fresh fruits and lots of seafood) =)

Flammkuchen (makes 4)

1 pkg dry yeast (8g)
2 tsp sugar
200ml lukewarm water
10g salt
500g wheat flour
200g quark (40%)
4 Tbsp creme fraiche
150g smoked bacon
1 large onion
1 egg yolk
nutmeg
salt, ground pepper

1. Dissolve yeast in sugar and water.  Mix dry ingredients for dough together and pour the yeast into a well in the middle.  Knead until smooth and let rest in a warm place for 30 min.

2. Mix the creme fraiche, quark, and egg yolk together, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

3. Cook bacon and onions (don’t fry).

4. Roll out dough very thinly and prick furiously with fork =)

5. Top with quark, then bacon and onions.

6. Bake in a very hot oven (425F) for 10-15 minutes until the edges start to burn.

7. Remove and serve hot!

it’s probably me, but every time i try to make yeast dough, it never works out for me.  it probably also had something to do with the fact that i rolled it out far too thick, but the flammkuchen was rather bready, and didn’t have that nice thin-ness to it =(  i’ll probably use flaky pastry next time (i don’t ever seem to have trouble making that, and i never even follow a recipe).  i also forgot to season it with salt and pepper, and added WAY too much bacon, lol!

blueberry pie

2 lb fresh blueberries
lots of sugar
water
pie crust

1. boil sugar, water, and a few blueberries (for colour) until the mixture becomes relatively thick (make sure you don’t boil it for too long, though, otherwise it’ll become hard candy – see below!)

blueberries encased in hardened sugar – pretty, but doesn’t really work for the pie…=(

2. Bake pie shell according to directions.

3. Coat blueberries in syrup and fill pie crust.

it can be served with fresh whipped cream, like at white spot, or ice cream, but it’s also pretty good on its own =)  once you have blueberry pie with whole blueberries in it, you’ll never go back to the jam-y kind =S

One of the great crimes against humanity, along with slavery, genocide and religious persecution is the proliferation of bad pie crust. A warning to sensitive readers: what I am about to say may be upsetting to some. There are people in this world who have never had a good pie crust. There are people who think that one of the main ingredients in pie crust is Crisco! Worse yet, there are some who buy pie crust in the refrigerated section of the grocery store! Think of what this does to their friends and family. Think of the children! It makes me want to cry.

I haven’t been doing very much inspiring cooking in the last week. We have been super busy, and the weather has been hot, hot, hot so I haven’t felt like hanging out in the kitchen. But in the last few days I have found time to make two blueberry pies. In an attempt to end the suffering caused by Pillsbury pie crust I am going to post my recipe here. I will also post the recipe I used for the blueberry filling – it turned out quite tasty.

I use almost the same recipe for pie crust that I got from my mom when I was a little girl. It is the very first recipe I ever wrote down. Judging from my handwriting I must have been about nine or ten.

My first recipe

Pie Crust

this “recipe” makes 1 top or bottom crust and it is easily doubled

1 1/3 c. all purpose flour

1 stick of butter (I use salted butter for my crust)

pinch of salt

1/3 c. of cold water (or more. or less.)

Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Cut your butter into little tiny cubes, about the size of peas and toss them gently with the flour. Your butter needs to be firm at this point. If for some reason it is not, refrigerate the whole bowl until it is. Start mushing the butter between your fingers to break it up. The whole idea is to incorporate the butter into the flour while still leaving little tiny hard pieces of butter. I tend to break the butter up a bit, then go through and smash the remaining lumps between my fingers to make what I think of as “butter flakes”. When you are satisfied that your butter is mixed in, but not too well, you can add the water. Now, this is the part where people can really screw up. You don’t want to mix the dough any more than necessary after you add the water. If your dough is too dry you will have to mix it more to get it to stick together, so you want to add enough. I sometimes add too much water though, and you don’t want to do that either because you end up with a sticky mess. You have to watch what you are doing. I cannot stress this enough. If you just follow the recipe without paying attention to your dough it will not behave the way you want it to. Some flour is dryer than others, sometimes your butter is more mixed in than other times, sometimes you didn’t measure that accurately. Whatever. All those things can be overcome if you pay attention while adding the water. Make sure the water is cold, I never use ice water, but if you want to it won’t hurt anything. Pour in about half the water you think you will need, then fluff everything up very gently with a fork. Pour more water onto spots that look dry and fluff again. When things look uniformly dampened, gently press the dough together into a ball. I like to flatten mine out into a disc, wrap it up and refrigerate it for an hour or so, but I don’t when I am in a hurry and you don’t need to either. When you roll it out, especially if it was in the fridge, give it a few firm squeezes to soften it up and show it who is boss. It is important that your dough always knows that you are the boss of it, and not the other way around. Move your dough with purpose and don’t be timid! Don’t be shy with the flour either when you are rolling, you can always brush some off at the end if you need to.

Those are all my pie crust secrets. Use butter, pay attention to your dough, tell it who is boss. Now go make pie! Make pie for the whole world!

Pie crust

P.S. Don’t ever bake pie in an aluminum pan if you can help it. Aluminum doesn’t conduct heat well and the bottom crust never gets brown. I like glass pie pans. I also have a copper one that works well.

The blueberry pie filling that I made was adapted from a recipe in the July/August 2008 issue of Cook’s Illustrated. It uses a combination of tapioca and apple pectin to thicken it and I really like the final texture. I played around with the recipe a little bit, I just can’t help myself, but the basic technique came from the magazine.

Blueberry Pie

2 pie crusts, one for the top and one for the bottom

6 c. blueberries

1 large apple, peeled and grated

juice and zest from 1 lemon

3/4 c. sugar

2 T. tapioca, ground in a food processor or mortar and pestle (you don’t need to grind it, but it helps avoid lumps in your filling)

pinch of salt

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Place 3 cups of berries in a saucepan and smash them with a potato masher. Cook them over medium heat until they are broken down and reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, about 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, place the grated apple in a kitchen towel and wring it dry (wring it into a glass and drink it while you cook!) Put the apple into a bowl with the remaining filling ingredients. Add the cooked berries when they are done and stir to combine.

Pie filling

Roll out one of your pie crusts and place it in a 9 inch pie pan. Roll out your top crust before filling so that things don’t get soggy. You can cut little wholes in your top crust like this:

Pie crust with holes

Or do any kind of top you feel like. Lattice is nice on a pie like this too.

Pie with lattice crust

Fill your bottom crust, moisten the edge with water, and carefully put your top crust over the whole thing. Trim off the edges of the dough leaving about an inch. Roll up the edges and crimp them. I like to sprinkle the top of the pie with cinnamon sugar before it goes in the oven but that is optional.

Polka dot pie

Bake the pie on the bottom rack of your oven. This is very important, the bottom rack. I baked mine for about 45 minutes in the 400 degree oven, but if you find that your pie is browning too much you can turn the heat down to 350. It may take a little longer. the pie is done when it bubbles in the center. Cool on a rack for at least four hours if you want it to slice neatly. Otherwise, just dive right in.

Blueberry Pie

During WWII while my father was fighting in Europe my mother supported us by working at the Table Talk Pies Inc. Located in Worcester Massachusetts, it was established in 1924. Like many other business of that time, they started as a very small neighborhood business and sold their pies in horse drawn carriages around town. Table Talk still exists today with distribution and production all around the country. 

My mother perfected her pie baking and was the expert among our family and friends. She sold her pies in our family business “Turo’s Market” on Shrewsbury Street, Worcester MA. (no longer exists). We moved to the country in a house my parents built in the middle of an apple orchard. Every Sunday my mother would bake all sorts of pies of the season and family and friends filled our house for coffee and pie. But it was when the fruit was first in season that she would make us all our own pie and set it down in front of us for one big start of the season pie feast. She made a large assortment of pies but two were always the most popular and that was blueberry and apple pies (apples picked in our backyard).

To this day everyone in our family remembers these Sunday afternoons with such fond memories. Besides always having a huge crowd around our house on the weekends the sent of fresh baked pies in her country kitchen still lingers with me today. Everyone in our family tries to create the very same flavor that she perfected. Somehow we never are able to recreate the same taste, but that is probably because we just can’t duplicate those wonderful times that went with friends, coffee and a piece of pie with ice cream. Pies are still a large part of our family get-togethers and she still fills our discussions as we compete for the title of best family pie baker. 

Fruit pies are very simple and only require the minimum amount of ingredients.  Sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, butter, a little flour or cornstarch and that is it. If you try to complicate it, you will affect the fresh flavors of the fruit. Fresh fruit pies are not about being creative, but about the clean flavors and the juices of ripe fruit -and there is the key, ripe fruit.

Make sure when you are buying blueberries that they are firm, plump, fragrant, and dark blue. Remove stems and any berries that are green or not ripe. Most of us today use cultivated berries and they can also be bought frozen. We always went blueberry picking at farms and collected large quantities that we froze and had blueberry pies through out the winter. They freeze beautifully and are great just to pop a few in your mouth as a snack frozen. You can put them into your pie frozen and you wouldn’t know that they had been picked months before. Blueberries are also well known for their health benefits. Enjoy my Moms recipe!

Blueberry Pie

Basic Pie Crust                                          

Recipe Summary

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: See directions

Yield: 1-9” pie crust, top and bottom

Dry Ingredients
2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cold solid vegetable shortening (one cup of shortening if you eliminate the butter)
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter (the butter makes the crust flaky)
2/3 cup ice-cold water (as needed)
Pinch salt

Other Items needed
Mixer or rolling pin
Parchment paper
9” pie plate

DOUGH USING A MIXER OR PROCESSOR
Mix the flour, shortening, and salt until it looks like a crumb mixture. Add the butter to the crumb mixture. The mixer or processor does a good job of crumbing the mixture. The butter should only be pulsated a few times to assure it isn’t over processed. The original recipe calls for a total of 1 cup of shortening; you can use a mixture of butter and shortening.  Remove it from the mixer or processor and mix 2/3 cup of ice-cold water a little at a time until the dough forms. You may not need the entire amount of water. DO NOT OVER PROCESS OR KNEAD THE DOUGH. Once you have brought all the ingredients together, cut it in half and form a disk shape by patting it with your hands and put it in plastic storage bags. Refrigerate them for at least 1/2 hour.

BY HAND
If you are mixing the dough by hand, place the flour in a bowl and add a pinch of salt.Cut the shortening into small pieces and crumble it either with you hands or with a fork. Cut in the butter, in larger chunks. Add the ice-cold water and bring it together into a ball, the same as the directions above.

NOTE:  Pie dough can be frozen in a freezer bag for use at a later date. When you are ready to use it, defrost and roll it out.

NOTE: You can also add a little cinnamon, lemon zest or sugar if you like into the flour mixture.

Blueberry Pie Filling

Recipe Summary

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 52 minutes, 12 minutes at 420º F, 40 minutes @ 350ºF

Yield: 8 servings

FILLING
6 cups fresh blueberries, enough to fill a 9” pie plate 
3/ 4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 lemon (zest only)
1/8 pound butter, cut into cubes

Other Things Needed
3 ziti pasta

ASSEMBLY
Roll out one half of the dough and place it into a 9” pie plate. Refrigerate the other half for the top.

FILLING
Put the blueberries into a bowl and add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and zest and toss the berries until they are completely covered with the ingredients. Pour them into the uncooked piecrust and dot the top with butter. Roll out the second piece of dough and cover the top of the pie. Even out the dough around the rim and crimp the edges. With a knife, puncture at 3 holes and stick in a piece of ziti pasta in each hole. The ziti will act as little chimneys and let out the steam.

BAKE
Bake in the middle of the oven at 420º F for 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350º F and cook for another 40 minutes. Remove the pie when it is brown on the top and put it on a rack to cool. Once at room temperature, put it in the refrigerator.

SERVE
Serve cold with vanilla ice cream.

NOTE:  You can brush the top of the piecrust with an egg wash or cream to give it a more golden color or sprinkle a little sugar on the top.

…a perfect title for this post. but it was somehow forgotten… whoops!

sundays always get me depressed, so i came home and made blueberry pie. i haven’t had any yet, it’s still simmering in the kitchen as it’s tooo hot to bake it yet. i stole the crust recipe from shauna james ahern’s blog “gluten free girl.” and took her advice to edit the recipe. i used what i had which meant substituting: brown rice flour for the white rice flour, tapioca starch for the potato starch, and lemon juice for the apple cider vinegar. i also used kosher salt, organic sugar, and oil instead of butter… just to try and make it a little healthier.

for the filling, i mixed the left over organic blueberries from our neighbors farm with a little bit of sugar and cinnamon. and let sit while i wait for the sun to go down and the crust to set.

i’m excitedddd…
blur-berriiiiess.. before.

blur-berrries after!!

From time to time,  criminals do something great.  Like stealing red light cameras to finance their drug habits.

NEW YORK, July 22 (UPI) — The New York Police Department said two people have been arrested for using a cherry-picker to steal nearly 20 percent of the city’s red light cameras.

Investigators said Anthony Cintorrino, 45, and Tara LaBurt, 29, used a pickup truck with a cherry-picker to steal the cameras between June 24 and the time of their arrests Sunday, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

Police said couple were arrested for allegedly selling an estimated $88,000 worth of parts from the cameras to a camera resale shop for $300 each to help finance their heroin addictions.

And New York drivers got a couple of days of from traffic tickets.  Seriously though, that’s ingenuity.

***

I’ve been baking pies lately.  There’s just so much fruit for so cheap at the store, and when I walk by the cherries / strawberries / blueberries / peaches… they just scream to be bought and made into pie.  Plus, I have loads of people at work who will eat it all, therefor it is ok for my waistline.

First, last week,  I made a Crumby Blueberry Pie.

Crust:
1.5 cups of crushed Graham Crackers.
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
1/8 cup water
Filling:
4 cups of Blueberries – fresh or frozen
7 Tablespoons corn starch
3 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2/3 cup granulated Sugar OR 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup Splenda
Crumble Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter or margarine

Instructions:
1- Preheat oven to 375 F
2- Mix together crumbs, melted butter and water.  Press evenly into pie plate.
3- Wash Blueberries (unless they’re frozen and already clean)
4- Combine the sugar, corn starch and spices in a bowl and mix well!  Add water and lemon juice, stir.
5- Pour clean blueberries into pie shell, then pour sugar mixture evenly over top (doesn’t have to be perfect)
6- In a separate bowl mix crumb topping sugar and flour, then cut in butter until it’s all mixed.  Crumble over pie
7- Bake for 1 hour.

Then I made Cherry Pie on Wednesday night.

Crust:
1 c. lard / shortening
2 ½ c. flour
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp cold water
Filling:
4 cups of Cherries – fresh or frozen
2/3 c sugar
5 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla
1 ½ tbsp butter

Instructions:
1- Preheat oven to 375 F
2- Sift together flour and salt, sift again.
3- Use pastry cutter or two knives to cut lard/shortening into flour until it is fully mixed, in pea sized chunks.
4- Add 1 tbsp water at a time, mixing until dough JUST holds together. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes.
5- Wash cherries (unless they’re frozen and already clean)
6- Combine the sugar and corn starch in a bowl, add lemon juice and vanilla.  Stir in Cherries and let sit for at least 20 minutes
7- Divide dough in two; Roll out pastry to 1/8th inch thickness, place in pie plate.
8- Fill pie shell with cherry mixture
9- Roll out other ½ of dough, then either lay it on top of the pie to cover and pierce, or lattice the top of pie.  Pinch edges to seal and remove excess dough.
10- Bake for 45 min

Yesterday my mom ended up making her blueberry pie with some of the many blueberries we have.

It came out SO good!  My mom can make a killer blueberry pie.  The crust was to die forrr….ahhh.  I couldn’t stop eating it.  Really, I had way too much of it.

mmmm….mmmmm.

Last night for dinner my mom, christina, and I decided to take my Grandmom out.  We went to an italian restaurant called Presto.  I ordered a huge plate of spaghetti with broccoli rabe and tomato sauce.

I ordered broccoli rabe because they didn’t have broccoli!  I’ll tell ya though, I really did not enjoy the broccoli rabe!  It was very bitter and not very tasty…what do you think of broccoli rabe?

After dinner, I of course had MORE blueberry pie!  Then my sister and I went food shopping to get some items for the week!  While we were there we got bulk chocolate covered raisins and pretzels…I MAY have eaten WAY, WAY, WAY too many.  I’m talking A LOT of chocolate covered raisins & pretzels.  Oh well, it was delicious.

This morning, I made myself a yogurt concoction similar to yesterday’s lunch.

I scooped a container of Chobani Plain Greek Yogurt in the center and surrounded it with cherries, peaches, bananas, strawberries, blueberries.  I ended up mixing it all up with a mix of Kashi GoLean and Nature’s Path Optimum Blueberry  Cinnamon cereal.  This was my first time trying it out and I have to say, I really enjoyed it!!!  I topped the mixture with cinnamon & a drizzle of honey.

So delicious.

Today my sister tried to make Peanut Butter Pretzel Blondies.  She altered VeggieGirl’s recipe slightly, and let’s just say they were pretty TASTELESS.  So we made a different version.  She made the Fig/Almond Blondies before and I LOVED them.  So we decided to tweak them a little to make them just a bit more healthy.  Verdict:  They came out GREAT!  My sister, a co-worker–Nick, and I devoured these after lunch.

Nick’s excuse for grabbing ANOTHER blondie was, “Take an action shot” as he reached his hand into the pan.  In case you were wondering, yes, the 3 of us did finish these off within 45 minutes.  Pigs?  Yes. hahaha.  They were DELICIOUS.

I will post up the changes we made to VeggieGirl’s original recipe if anyone is interested!

Today is also the first day of Marathon Training!  My sister and I are both training for the Philadelphia Marathon in November!  We are both following Hal Higdon’s plans…she is following Novice I and I am following Novice II!  So excited!  We both start today with a rest day…how nice!

After work, I am going to Vinyassa Yoga.  Very excited…I don’t think I’ve been able to do Yoga since last Wednesday!

Tonight my sister and I will be making Black Bean burgers with grilled lime sweet

I have to go back to work now…so enjoy the rest of your day!

Today after being a terribly selfish mother and hitting the gym (using that gym daycare), I decided to drag the two boys to Stew Leonard’s.  For those of you not knowing of this suburban legend, Stew Leonard’s (or.. ‘Stew’s’ as we like to call it) is ‘The World’s Largest Dairy Store.’  Right on the gigantic sign on the store, it proudly touts this title as deemed by ‘Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.’  This is, as we all know, the penultimate of all things penultimate.  

I knew I was playing a dangerous game in going.  Noah, the six month old infant, has developed a voracious appetite for the seven pureed foods that rock his culinary world.  And if the kid is not fed according to his schedule, he gets PISSED.  Noah is the smiliest kid I’ve ever seen (and this is confirmed by other people who have no interest in telling me this.. e.g. family members).   But if Noah is hungry or overtired, he’ll scream so loud it will break the sound barrier.  I shit you not.  

Feeling the need for a thrill, I pressed my luck and we pressed onto Stew’s.  My mind did the mental math of how to manage my band of boys.  Cole (the three year old little old man) usually likes to ride in the cart.  This is fine, but means I’ve got to strap Noah onto my body, and he is SURELY near twenty pounds.   Since I had just BEEN to the gym and it was 88 degrees and stupidly humid, I was in no mood to do this.  So, I hoisted Cole (we’ll count that as a 44 lb. clean and jerk) into the ‘fruit and egg’ portion of the cart and did one heavier lift of Noah (inclusive of his colossally heavy carseat) into the big part of the cart.   Perfect.  This left me room for the few essentials I needed, including the pie I refused to bake for my friend’s barbeque.  (Sorry, I’ve been dumb enough to bake twice this week and wasn’t going for the third time.)   Besides, peach/blueberry pie sounded much more enticing than a plain old blueberry.

Whirling through the aisles, panic turned into peace as I grabbed the free ‘tastes’ of cookies and such for Cole.  And as the clock struck Noah’s appointed lunch time, he just screeched a little bit as he took in the sights around him.   Often as I seem to go grocery shopping, I hadn’t been to Stew’s in so long that they’d moved some stuff and changed it’s maze-like configuration.   (By ’so long’– I’m calculating it’s only been about two weeks since I was at Stew’s last.)   Lucky for me, they put the bread in a pretty obvious place, though the ice cream stand was still in it’s usual kid trapping spot.   We made it through with no melt downs or ice cream melting, the cart brimming with lots ‘o boys and just a few berries, to the check-out.  

Before I unloaded our tiny haul, I looked into the cart and realized just how little room there was for anything else.  Sure, I squeezed in what I needed and had to carry the pie in my hand, but it turned out perfectly.   Then something struck me.  Cue the corny music.  This cart summed up my life now.  It was full.  Full of boys.   Two little people who made me smile, made me laugh and left just enough room for some other essentials.  Sure, while I could’ve used more room for some more stuff, right now it was just fine.