i found my thrills...

on friday i took the kids berry picking at a couple of our secret locations and brought back many blackberries and many wild blueberries. sunday was grandparents' day and so we had most of the family over for a summer bbq party, and that means pie! i love making pie, and my favourite is apple. but apples are still coming (mostly) from new zealand (which is way too far for an apple to travel if you ask me) and the bc and washington ones still too expensive, so it wasn't an option. our neighbour loves blueberries, they were to attend the bbq as well, and we did just pick a whole bushel-full of them! i also made some cupcakes, but they were a disaster but i'll probably blog about those anyway. maybe.
i'd already recently made a blueberry pie so i thought i'd give another recipe a try. i chose to make martha's 4th of july blueberry pie. yes, i know it's not the 4th of july which is why i made a simple lattice top and not stars. i'm thinking i'll make some crazy top for my next pie, which will be apple most likely, close to thanksgiving which is only about 5 weeks away.
the kids helped me make this one, and i'm killing myself for not taking any pictures of them in their aprons all covered in flour!
* next time i'll add less lemon juice as it was too tart. but really, i may not make this one again because the retro pie recipe is much better and uses less berries- you could make 2 1/2 pies with the amount of berries in this one!!! 4th of july blueberry pie
martha stewart's baking handbook
all purpose flour, for dusting
your favourite pie crust for a double 9" shell- chilled in the fridge (i really should blog mine for you, lol)
8 cups fresh blueberries, picked over (about 4 pints)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp unsalted butter, but into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp heavy cream
roll out one disk of dough to a 12 inch round, fit into a 9" glass pie plate, pressing it into the edges. chill pie shell until firm, about 30 mins.
place blueberries in a large bowl; with your hands, crush about 1/2 cup of the berries, letting them fall into the bowl as you work. add the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice; stir to combine. spoon mixture into chilled pie shell, mounding berries slightly in the centre. dot with butter. remove the remainder dough from the refrigerator and roll out and either cut shapes or strips to make the top.
in a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and cream. brush the entire surface of rim and lattice with egg wash, being careful not to let it pool. freeze or refrigerate pie until firm, about 30 minutes. meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, with the rack int he lower third.
place pie on a parchment-lined baking sheet. bake until the crust begins to turn golden, about 20minutes. reduce oven temperature to 350F. continue baking, rotating sheet halfway through, until the crust is deep golden brown and the juices are bubbling and have thickened, 40-50 minutes more. transfer pie to a wire rack to cool completely. the pie is best eaten the day it is bake, but it can be kept at room temperature, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for up to 2 days.

pretty as a peach

on our camping trip, we kept an eye out for roadside fruit stands. i mean, we were so close to the okanagan there was bound to be at least one fruit stand... and there was, but it was closed. damn! i really wanted some peaches, apricots, and cherries. the first thing when we got back, after all the laundry was done, i went online to our organics delivery, spud, and ordered me some okanagan peaches. i dug out my trusty retro pies and martha's baking handbook and had a quick flip through each, wondering which recipe tickled my fancy. martha wanted me to make a peach, apricot and cherry pie. doh! retro pies recipe was simple- and tasty. i do plan to make this again and next time i will add a spent vanilla bean to the mashed peaches while it's cooking. o, and next time i won't forget to put in my pie weights before it goes in the oven! lol!meriwether county glazed peach pie
retro pies by linda everett

6 cups firm ripe peaches, pared and sliced
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup orange juice
9-inch pie crust (use your favourite recipe)

preheat oven to 375 degrees F and bake pie crust for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
in a medium bowl, mash enough peaches to make 1 cup. set aside remaining sliced peaches. in a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. stir in orange juice and mashed peaches. cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil, stirring occasionally. continue boiling for 1 minute longer. spread half of this glaze over the sides and bottom of the baked crust. fill with peach slices and pour remaining glaze over all. chill in refrigerator at least 3 hours. serve with whipped cream. serves 8.

*cough* blueberry pie *cough*

the first year we lived in the house i made a beautiful fresh bing cherry pie. it was so tasty, and i wanted to share it with our neighbours. s was so excited to have a home baked pie (his wife doesn't bake pies...yet) he dove right in.
and then spit it out.
aparently he didn't like cherries. blueberry pie is his favourite i soon found out, and yesterday i finally got around to making one with some of the wild berries we picked last fall. all throughout dinner he kept coughing "blueberry pie *cough*!"
this time the pie ended up in his tummy and not back on the plate.

alaskan wild berry pie
adapted from retro pies by linda everett

2 cups blueberries, huckleberries or similar fruit; washed and sorted

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/8 tsp nutmeg

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 cup blueberries (or whatever you're using), washed and sorted

pastry for double, 9-inch pie crust

1 tbsp all purpose flour

preheat oven to 425 degrees.

in a medium bowl, combine the 2 cups berries with sugar, lemon juice, and nutmeg. toss gently avoid smashing berries. stir in flour. turn into a saucepan and cook on low just until mixtures bubbles. remove from heat. cool. sprinkle the single tablespoon of flour over the bottom of the crust and cover with the cup of raw berries. pour cooked filling over raw berries and top with crust; cutting a few steam vents. place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10minutes. reduce heat to 350 and continue cooking until crusty is lightly browned and filling is bubbly. serves 6-8