Originally Posted July 4, 2011

Happy 4th of July!!

I started off my 4th with a little 5K run, think I might go for a bike ride in a bit, and then hoping to finish it off with some fireworks!  Oh – and there will be some food involved in my day.  Specifically, blueberry pie.  I mean what says Happy 4th of July better than blueberry pie?  Serve it in a red pie dish, and you instantly have a patriotic dessert!

My family traveled to Maine a few years ago (well, it was before I left for college, so I guess it was more than a few), and we visited a friend of my dad’s for dinner.  They served us a pie after dinner, and wow.  It was the best blueberry pie I had ever had.  I, of course, had to get the recipe, and I’ve been making it every since.

I said in my “about me” section that my desserts are not works of art.   Well, this one definitely shows it.

I’ll walk you through the steps of how to make this pie, so you can see just how easy it is to get an ugly but delicious pie.

Crust
1.    Put all of the dry ingredients for your pie crust in a bowl.
2.    Cut in your butter and Crisco (both of these need to be cold)
3.    Get a bowl of ice cold water and pour the water into the middle of the flour / butter mixture.
4.    Using a fork, mix together your pie dough until it all comes together.
5.    Roll out the dough and put into your pie pan.

Filling
1.    Rinse off your blueberries.
2.    Add sugar & corn starch (or tapioca pudding)
3.    Grate in some lemon peel
4.    Add the cinnamon
Taste it.

Pour the blueberry filling into the crust.  Cut up 2 Tbsp. butter over filling.  Then place the top crust over the filling.  Sprinkle sugar over the top of the crust.
Put into the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, turn down the oven and bake for 40 to 50 more minutes.  Tip:  Put a cookie sheet underneath your pie in case some of the filling spills out.

Citation: Peter Murray (my dad’s friend)

Crust:
1 cup shortening ( ½ butter, ½ Crisco)
3 cups flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ cup cool water

Make and roll out top and bottom crusts in usual manner.

Filling:
6 cups blueberries
1 ¼ cup sugar
4 Tbsp. “minute” tapioca (I used 2 Tbsp. cornstarch)
Grating of the peel of one lemon
1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter