Pie

I'm taking advantage of the abundance of blueberries available right now.  Last year I couldn't find a good tasting blueberry to save my life.  They were either tasteless or sour.  

This year is another story – they have been really sweet.  Must be a weather thing, I'm guessing. 

And baking them brings out the sweetness to a whole other level.

I looked on-line for blueberry pie recipes and created this one based on what I found. 

5 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup washed raw sugar*
5 Tbsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. butter

Double Pie crust - I cheat and use the refrigerated rolled kind.  You can certainly make your own.

*This sugar makes a big difference in the taste and texture of the pie.  It has a subtle molasses flavor and adds hint of crunch now and then. 

Wash the berries and let drain. In a large bowl combine the sugar, the corn starch, cinnamon and salt.  Toss in the berries and stir to coat evenly.

Line your pie dish with the bottom crust.  Pile on the berry mixture and dot with butter.  Put on top crust.  You can get fancy and do a lattice top (very striking) or do what I did and just make small cut-outs evenly across the top crust.   Bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes.  Crust should be golden brown.  

Here's a couple of tips for you.  When determining how many berries to use just measure by cupful into your empty pie pan.  Mine holds five cups.  Then add 1 Tbsp. of cornstarch for each cup of berries.  

If you do cut outs on your top pie crust first lay the dough on a piece of parchment or wax paper.  Then pick up the paper with the crust on it and flip it over onto the pie.  Peel off the paper.  It helps stabilize the crust. 

Ha!  No rolling pin was harmed in the filming of this pie.  It was only used for photographic purposes.  Actually I had to bring it out so it wouldn't feel neglected.  Poor thing rarely gets used. 

I wish I had a better picture of the cutting board.  This is recycling at its finest.  A million years ago we had one of those portable dishwashers.  The kind you roll over in front of your sink and plug into the faucet.  It had a butcher block top to it.  When we finally remodeled our kitchen (in our last house – not this one) we took off the top and installed the washer under the counter.  My brother in law Robert took the butcher block top.

This was 15 years ago.  A couple of months ago Rick was talking to Robert about making a cutting board and Robert dug out the old top and gave it back to Rick.  Rick cut it down to size, sanded it oiled it and put little feet on it.  It is a lovely cutting board now.