Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Rustic Blueberry Pie

Finally I have a breather to post some recipes.  This is very easy to make and it's delicious, you might want to make a couple because they go fast! On this day I also made Home Made Blueberry Muffins, I will post them shortly.


Servings: 6

What you will need:
Measuring cups and spoons
Pie plate-pan, glass or metal
Pastry cutter, two knives if you don't have one
2-Medium size mixing bowls
Sifter
Spatula
Hand grater if you have one
Fork
Cutting board or flat surface
Rolling Pin
Baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Paper is optional but makes for easy cleaning
A pair of Oven Mitts
Collander

FYI: I try to use organic as much as possible, it's better for you.

Ingredients for Pie Filling:
2 1/2 Cups of fresh or frozen Blueberries.  *If using frozen, thaw first and then drain the extra liquid, if you don't your crust will be soggy.*
Make sure berries are clean, put them in a collander, rinse under cool running water, shake a few times, then pat dry. Remove any stems and discard.
3/4-Cup of sugar *I use organic or will substitute for Coconut Sugar or Agave Nectar*
2-3 Tablespoons of All Purpose Unbleached Flour, the amount you use depends on how much juice the berries have.
1-Tablespoon of Lemon Juice, fresh is best


Ingredients for Pie Crust:
1 1/4-Cup of All Purpose Flour (Sifted)  *I use unbleached organic.*
1-Tablespoon Sugar *I use organic or will substitute for Coconut Sugar or Agave Nectar*
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1-Stick of cold Butter
1/4 Cup ice water (May not need it all)
Small bowl of water

Assembling the Crust:
In one of the medium mixing bowls add the flour, sugar and salt.




Grate or chop the cold stick of unwrapped butter into small pieces, add the butter pieces into the flour mixture. Blend the butter into the flour mixture by either using either the pastry cutter or two knives. You want to keep cutting - blending until the mixture almost looks like granules of sand.




Now slowly add in a little bit of the ice water to this flour-butter mixture.  Using a fork mix well. Keep adding a little water at a time while continuing to mix with the fork until it all melds together. Again, you might not need all of the ice water. Scoop the dough out of the bowl with your hands and roll into a ball.




Add a small dusting of flour to your cutting board or flat surface. Place the dough ball onto the cutting board or flat surface.  Put some flour in the palm of your hand and run it up and down your rolling pin, this will help prevent the dough from sticking.  Now roll the dough out with your rolling pin. *You don't want to over-roll or the crust will become tough.*  Roll out the dough to be at least 2-inches larger than the pie plate - pan.




Now place the crust into the pie plate-pan.  Once placed inside, put it into the refrigerator while you do the next step.


Now for the Blueberry Filling:
In the second medium bowl, add the Blueberries, Lemon Juice, Sugar and Flour. Mix well and then set aside.




Assembling your Blueberry Pie:
Put the Blueberries into the crust. Gently fold the dough edges over top of the Blueberry filling making creases. *If it cracks that's fine, this is why it's Rustic.*  Using the small bowl of water, wet your finger a little bit and seal the creases of the crust, sealing helps keep them folded and together when in the oven. I sprinkle a little extra sugar over top of the filling and crust. No egg wash is required for this pie.




Baking Instructions:
Pre-heat your oven to 400-degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the pie onto the Parchment Paper lined baking sheet.
Once the temperature is reached, bake the pie in your oven for 30-minutes or until the pie filling is bubbling.  Put on your Oven Mitts, gently and carefully remove the pie from the oven, the filling is extremely hot!! Place the pie on a heat resistant flat surface to cool for a little bit, you can serve warm topped with whipped cream or ice cream.  Enjoy!






















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Thursday, August 18, 2016

Busy...busy...busy

Hello to all of my  friends, family and followers.  My apologies for not posting new recipes, I have had a few losses recently, my brother-in-law unexpectedly passed away as did a couple of my close friends. I had been spending a lot of time with my sister Denise and her family trying to comfort her the best I can.  My Gramma Hart died a few months back I was with her when she was wrapped lovingly in the arms of angels and carried home to Heaven.  She lived a wonderful 97 1/2-yrs, I miss her terribly each and every day. She was a lady with great wit, sarcasm and humor.  I don't think there is a person in this town that didn't know her or wasn't touched by her in some way.  She had a public television show here called "Senior Chat Hour." She hosted that show for numerous years, she was also very knowledgeable about the town and its history.   The one thing that really bothers me is, she wanted to go back to her beloved Ireland but due to her frail health I didn't think it was a good idea to have her travel.   One of her last wishes was to have her ashes scattered about at some of her favorite places over there, so this will be biter sweet for me to do so.

I am still going to my Boot Camp classes three mornings a week.  I can't believe it has been a year and 4-months now since I first signed up, I love the challenges of pushing my body to see what I can do.  I have an eye doctor appointment this morning, the joys of getting older, I can't see as good as I use to. I think contacts or a pair of glasses will be in my near future, like in about 3-hours.  Lately I swear my life has become a game of hide and seek, I put something down and can't remember where I put it, now I might have to add in finding a pair of glasses or contacts. LOL!

I have taken some much needed "Me Time" since Gramma passed away. I am doing the things that I didn't have the time to do when I was her care giver. One of the things I have done was over-hauled every closet, drawer and cupboard in this house, if it hasn't been used in the last six months it was purged and donated to a charity. I can't believe all of the the things that accumulated and were donated, at least now they will get some use from someone that needed them more than myself. It's nice to be able to donate to those in need and it also keeps our landfills from being burdened with good usable items.  I also started repainting the interior of my house, I get bored with the same colors and decorating schemes, so every 4-yrs I redo everything. By redecorating it's keeping me busy and it helps me cope with my "Empty Nest Syndrome" which I am not handling too well.   It's hard to believe three of my four kids are all grown up and living on their own.  God knows I have cried and begged them to come back home numerous times and they keep telling me they can't live home forever. I keep saying "Why not?"  LOL!  Being a Mom and letting go of the apron strings has been one of the hardest things for me to do and try to overcome. I know they need to be on their own and thankfully they don't live that far away from me and we see each other often.

I just completed painting and redecorating my youngest daughter's room since she has moved out and has a place of her own,  the only thing left now is laying down the new hardwood floors which I intend on putting down in all 4-bedrooms, I had wood laminate and hated it. I put in a call to my nephew who is a contractor - builder and so is my son, together they will install the floors saving me money.  Anyone that knows me knows I will pinch a penny until it screams.   I nearly had a coronary when I was pricing granite for my kitchen counter tops, what they charge I could easily buy a used car.  Who knew rock could be so darn expensive!  I am giving in and not going to be a tight wad, I figured a little splurge would be nice, I think I deserve it.  My poor house looks like a war zone at the moment, boxes and boxes of hardwood are stacked, I have cans of paint just waiting to be used and I have decorating swatches laid out on the dining room table. I just can't seem to pull the trigger on which color I want for the foyer and the living room.  Decisions....decisions.   I have two of the four bedrooms painted which is time consuming, especially when I am the only one doing the painting.  In between the house renovations I have done some traveling and sight seeing.  I spent the whole day in Salem, Massachusetts two weeks ago. There is an abundance of history museums surrounding the "Salem Witch Trials," retail shops and restaurants all are a must visit.  It takes you all day to see everything there.  I love the old homes and how parts of the city are still as they use to be in colonial times.  I really enjoyed the water front marina - open sea and walking out to the light house.  The water really has a calming effect and the scenery is to die for.  I can't believe how many yachts and house boats are moored there.  Me being me, I had lots of conversations with people that live there and those that were tourist like myself.  I seem to attract people without even saying a word, all I have to do is smile and a conversation starts up, I am blessed that way. My Gramma Donovan said I was born with the gift of gab. I could talk and talk and talk some more which I always do. (wink)

I am planning on adding some recipes by next week, I hope you all will give them a try as well as give me some feed back.  I am off for the day and hopefully will be able to see in a couple of hours, LOL!  Take care and God bless.



                                                                                                      Hugs & Love,
                                                                                                      Linda Lee Klebe  :)