Blueberry Pie

Last weekend, I picked up a big container of blueberries at Sam's Club. Not only that they were round and big, they looked so juicy that I had to buy it! So what do I do with 5+ cups of blueberries? Red suggested that we make a blueberry pie to go along our homemade fresh peach ice-cream (will post the recipe later) for our anniversary celebration this weekend! What a great idea! In the spirit of trying to save myself some time, I actually used frozen pie crust this time.

Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 cups fresh blueberries

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

1 tablespoon butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over blueberries.
Line pie dish with one pie crust. Pour berry mixture into the crust, and dot with butter. Cut remaining pastry into 1/2 - 3/4 inch wide strips, and make lattice top. Crimp and flute edges.
Bake pie on lower shelf of oven for about 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Sarah's Pecan Pie

My friend Sarah showed me a picture of her pecan pie on her cell phone when she came to visit me and Red for lunch one afternoon. I was very impressed by the way her picture looked. So I asked her to make this pecan pie when we went to visit her for lunch, and ... I was right! This pie tasted as good as it looked on the picture.

I was pleasantly surprised when she told me that she even made the crust from scratch!! Wohooo!!! The crust was light and buttery, and the filling was hearty, sweet, without being too overwhelming! It was actually a perfect summer dessert. Thanks Sarah for sharing your recipe!

Crust
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
5 tablespoons cold water

Stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender (I use a long fork), cut in shortening till pieces are pea-sized.
Sprikle 1 tbsp of the water over part of the mixture and toss with a fork. Repeat moistening the dough using 1 tbsp of the cold water at a time. Form the dough into a ball.
Roll dough from the center to the edges on a floured surface. (She used wax paper on both the top and bottom of the dough).

Roll the dough to about 12 inches in diameter and transfer dough to pie pan. Crimp the edges or just trim them to the size of the pan.

Pie Filling
3 slightly beaten eggs
1 cup corn syrup
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 ¼ cups pecan halves

Combine eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in pecan halves.
Pour filling into pastry shell.
To prevent overbrowning, cover edges with foil while not covering the top of the pie.
Bake at 350˚ for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes.

Cool and enjoy!

P.S.: This will probably the only posting I have for June. Red and I are heading to Italy next week, for three weeks. I will not be participating in the Barefoot Blogger recipes! (Bummer!) I will be posting some pictures and info on our trip for anyone who's interested! The plan includes Rome, Florence (Bologna), Venice and Milan.

Banana Cream Pie

I have been wanting to make a banana cream pie forever. All of the recipes that I have seen used 6+ eggs, some even call for 8-10 eggs! I wanted a simple recipe that produces delicious result, so I thought this Paula Deen's recipe was a good one to use a starting point.

So what was the verdict? This pie has a wonderful flavor, but I thought that the filling could be a little less runny. "But it's not supposed to be firm," Red pointed out. I was wondering if he was right... Here are a few more observations.




We ended up using a 1% milk instead of whole-milk like she called for (and this could have been the reason the pie was runnier than I had expected). I also used 3 large bananas so I could make 2 layers of fruit. My bananas also were very ripe, so next time, I would probably take 2 T of sugar out of the measurement because I want my desserts to be a little less sweet than standard dessert.

Adapted from: The Lady and Sons, Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula Deen
Serves 6-8 pieces

Ingredients
1/3 cup plus 1/4 sugar, separated
3 T cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 T butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 egg whites
2 bananas, sliced (or more)
One 9-inch pre-baked pie shell

In a saucepan over a medium heat, combine 1/3 cup of sugar with the corn-starch and salt. Blend in the milk, then egg yolks. Cook and stir until mixture thickens. Remove from heat, stir in butter and vanilla. Cool to room temperature.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in egg yolk mixture. In pie shell, alternate layers of banana slices and cream filling. Cover and chill. Top with whipped cream and additional sliced bananas, if desired.