But I digress.
Now, being Pi day, I felt compelled to do something Pi-ish. Taking an important math test for college wasn't enough, so after I returned from school, I set to work in the kitchen. Pizza Pie and Blueberry Pie were both on the menu, but since I've already done a blog on pizza, I will only include here the Blueberry Pie recipe.
I started with a pie crust. I used to have a marvelous pie crust recipe from my grandmother, but I've lost it, and she wouldn't answer her phone, so I couldn't get it again. In the meantime, I pulled out our worn, well loved Better-Homes-and-Gardens cookbook.
2 C. All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
2/3 C. Shortening
6-7 Tbsp. Cold water
I started by mixing the flour and the salt. Then I cut in the shortening, until it was forming small balls and coming out crumbly. The next step was to add the water. Throw it on top and gently toss with a fork until it's about the right consistency. What is the right consistency? Well, when you think the water is pretty well mixed in, smoosh half of the dough into a ball with your hands and put it onto your floured table or countertop. Roll it out. If it crumbles to smithereens and doesn't roll out well at all, you probably added too much flour. If it sticks all over the rolling pin and you're making an enormous mess, you probably didn't add enough, and need to add a bit more flour. Or you just need to flour the rolling pin better. Or both. :)
Once you've got it all figured out and rolled out, it's time to line your greased pie pan with it.
Then it's time to add the fruit. I was using blueberries, but obviously, this pie crust could be used for just about whatever you please. I'll have to share my Chicken Pot Pie recipe some day. :D
I started with a big bag of frozen blueberries. Fresh blueberries would have been much better, but seeing as it's March, blueberries are out of season, and I'm too poor to splurge on out of season fresh blueberries, I had to make due with frozen.
5 C. Fresh (or frozen! :P) blueberries
1 C. Sugar
1/4 C. All purpose flour
1 tsp. finely grated lemon peel
2 tsp Lemon juice
1 Tbsp Butter
I measured out the blueberries and mixed it with the sugar and flour. I actually ended up cutting the sugar amount down to about 3/4 Cup, and it tasted just fine. You could even cut it down further, if you wanted. The blueberries are pretty sweet on their own. Where it called for grated lemon peel, I just put in a splash of lemon juice. I had no lemon peel handy. I rarely do, and lemon juice has always served me well in this respect.
Then, I poured them into the pie crust and dotted the top with butter. I probably more than doubled the butter, but I like butter. :D
Once the blueberries were in, I rolled out the second crust and put it on top. You could do a lattice top if you wanted, but I had a specific purpose in mind for the slits in the top of this pie.
Yeah, so I'm a geek. :P
I baked the pie at 375˚ for 20 minutes with foil around the crust. Actually, I don't use foil. I use a pie crust shield. I love it. It makes pies so very much easier. My grandmother bought it for me for Christmas a few years ago, and it was a huge joke because, crust shield or not, my grandmother always scorches the edge of her pie crusts. Other than that, though, her pies are the best in the world. :D
Anyway, I baked it for 20 minutes, and then took off the crust shield and baked it for another 20-25 minutes, as per the recipe.
However, it was not done in 25 more minutes. Or 5 minutes after that. Or 5 minutes after that. Or... well.... it ended up taking more than 15 extra minutes for the pie to look done. Even then, I think I could have probably gotten away with 5 minutes more without burns. I'm not sure why it took so long, since I've made pies before and never had this problem, but oh well. It sure looked good!
I put the pie up to cool for a bit while I made dinner, and after dinner we each had a slice with some cream I had whipped up special for the occasion.
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