Fresh Blueberry Pie

Fresh blueberry pie

I recently read an article that suggested that homemade pie making was a dying art.  And I can totally see how this could be true.  In this ready made world it's very tempting to just buy a crust at the supermarket and be done...Or better yet, just buy the pie.  Between the supermarket bakery and sara lee's frozen pies, why would busy mom's and dad's take the time to make crust and pie from scratch?

And I'm guilty of the same type of thinking.  It had been so long since I had made pie crust from scratch, I had forgotten just how simple it is.  The recipe is only four or five ingredients long.  Flour, salt, shortening and water for the basic crust.  Cut the flour and salt into the shortening until it looks like coarse crumbs.  Then add enough water to make the dough stick together and form a ball when lightly pressed  with a fork.  Divide the dough into two balls.  Press one ball to a 1/2 inch thick then roll out on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin.  Done!

So at 7pm I decided to make a fresh blueberry pie to use up some of those fresh blueberries I picked the other day.  To make the crust extra flaky the recipe, from my Pillsbury Complete Cookbook, said to add 2 tsp of sugar to the flour and 2 tsp of vinegar to the water.  I tried to find the recipe on the Pillsbury website but they don't have it listed...So I'll take a chance and reproduce it below.

Double crust recipe:
Stir together in medium bowl the following.
2 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp salt
Cut in shortening using a pastry blender or fork until coarse crumbs form.
2/3 c shortening.
Add liquid one tablespoon at a time by sprinkling, until the dough forms ball when lightly pressed with fork.
5-7 T. water
2 tsp vinegar
Divide into two equal balls.  If one is slightly larger use that as the bottom crust.  Flatten one ball to about 1/2 inch thick.  Roll out on a lightly floured surface until it is the size needed to fit your pie pan.  Roll dough onto your rolling pin and lift into your pan.  Trim the edge to within 1/2 inch of the pan's edge.

Blueberry filling:
Combine in a medium bowl and stir gently.
4 c. fresh blueberries, washed and stems removed
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c flour
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Pour blueberry mixture into the prepared pie shell.
Dot blueberry mixture with butter.
2 tsp. butter. (which I just realized I forgot to do last night.)

Top with remaining crust.  Now this is the step where you can make a plain old pie look like something special.  I saw this in a magazine once and remembered to do it last night.  I rolled out the top crust and found a medium sized cookie cutter.  I cut out star shapes from the middle of the crust.  I placed the crust on top of the filled pie, sealed the edge and then placed the star cut-outs on the top.  The recipe suggested brushing the top with milk and a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar.  And here it is!  What do you think?

Bake for 45-55 mins at 425F, covering the edge after 20 mins to keep it from browning to much.  The top is a golden brown and the star cut-outs make it look really nice.  And the taste?  Delicious!  Even without the butter.

Samantha really gets into her dessert!

Here's Samantha thoroughly enjoying her slice of pie.  She really gets into her dessert. (Quite literally)


Enjoy!