Tuesday, August 18, 2020

A Final Blueberry Moment

I've never picked blueberries four times in a single year.  Until this year.

I admit it.  It was recreation.  A chance to get out of the house and be in nature.  Be outside, where (at least for now) it is safer.  I can't say "in silence" because it wasn't silent.  The murmur of pickers near me, ordinarily not an issue, signaled that maybe it was time to pull up my mask.  But only one time was it that crowded.

As someone now semi-retired, spouse and I were able to get there right when the U-Pick farm opened, which helped a lot.

So we picked early berries, late early berries, mid season berries and late berries.  The late berries, we were warned when we arrived at the check-in stand, were either sweet and soft (they would start breaking down right away) due to the heat, or in better shape but tart.

After a short discussion, we decided these would be more for baking, and we chose "sweet and soft". 

Each year, this farm hands out a blueberry recipe brochure to its customers, and I chose one of their recipes, one I haven't made for many years:  Let's call it Double Blueberry Pie. I used the farm's recipe with some small modifications, which you may or may not want to make. I saw so many similar recipes online I decided I could put this online -

1 pie crust (Mine was an experiment, and maybe I'll blog about it one day.  Let's just say I used a homemade graham cracker crust.)  This is a no bake pie, unless you bake your own crust, but it does require a little cooking.  Nice not baking on a hot day.  Our summer has been hotter than normal.

Please keep in mind I try to bake on the "light side" so you may want to go back to the original - for that reason I made some notes.

Filling:

4 cups fresh blueberries (divide into 2 parts, 2 cups each) (apparently you can use frozen but I haven't done it myself, so I don't know if it will work with frozen.)

1/2 cup sugar (original recipe calls for 3/4 cup.  I didn't think it needed that much)

3 tbsp cornstarch

A pinch of salt

1 tbsp lime juice (because that's what I had - the original called for lemon juice)

1 tsp dried lemon peel (not in original)

1/4 cup cold water

1 tsp light butter-like spread (because that's what I had.  Original calls for 1 tbsp butter).

Method

Combine sugar, cornstarch, water, salt until well blended.  Add 2 cups blueberries. Cook over medium heat until the blueberry mixture thickens. 

Then, add the spread, lime juice and lemon peel.  Let cool.

 

When cooled, place the reserved 2 cups of blueberries into the pie crust.  


Pour the thickened cooked mixture over the uncooked blueberries. Cool some more and serve at room temperature or cold.  Hopefully your pie will look better than this, which is reason #479 why I don't publish a cooking blog. (Yes, the crust was a fail, and I will blog about it one of these days.)

And if I did have a cooking blog, it would probably be titled "Because It's What I Had" or something similar, like "I Never Got the Hang of Pie Crust".

That, my dear readers, is the last you will hear from me about blueberries this year (probably).  Can you tell I love them?

We froze several bags worth for the winter, remembering how frozen fruits and veggies vanished during March, April and May.

So....are you a good pie baker?  Or not?

7 comments:

  1. ...like most things, blueberries never last long enough.

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  2. I have to admit, I am a great pie baker! It's the crust. I use a "secret" family recipe, which has won prizes in county fairs for generations. I've won, and my oldest son won as a child with pies using this crust recipe. One "secret" is to always, always, always, use Crisco. Never another brand. Never lard. Not the butter flavored, just regular Crisco. I think a good pie is all in the crust. This is so good I have made it just to roll out for "pie crust cookies," sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon on the dough dampened with milk. My mother used to make those with the leftovers from a crust.

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  3. I'm definitely hanging on to this blueberry recipe. I LOVE blueberry pie!
    Pie is my thing! Mom was a master pie-maker and I think I just picked it up by accident. Now the third generation (ie. Eldest Daughter) is involved and her pie crusts have to be tasted to be believed! Every year, our family celebrates Pi (pie) day on March 14. 3.14=pi. Get it?
    Eldest Daughter and I make 10 different kinds of pie (usually around 70 pies) and half the town shows up to just eat pie and visit. It's so much fun! We had to cancel this year because the request to shut down came the day we would have begun our baking. Sigh. Maybe next year... (If you're in the area, be sure to drop by for PI!)

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  4. I freeze whatever fresh berries I can too, the season is so short. Your pie sounds delish. I bet the graham cracker crumb crust tasted great with the blueberries.

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  5. It's great that you've been able to get out and get them so often this year. One of the upsides of nothing else going on. No, I'm not a pie baker. I don't think I've ever actually made a pie. (Quiche doesn't count.)

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