Fresh Blueberry Pie

Did you know that July is National Blueberry Month? Neither did I, but we do now! Here are 3 yummy recipes for you to celebrate the month of July!

Having pie instead of cake on my birthday has been a tradition since my 10 birthday! My mom asked what kind of cake I wanted and I frowned and asked, "Can I have chocolate cream pie instead?" This is no chocolate cream pie, but my 6 year old niece who doesn't like chocolate, had 2 or 3 servings of it at the family birthday party last month. She loves blueberries!

Fresh Blueberry Pie

8-inch Pie:

8-inch Double Crust Pastry Recipe (below)
3 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
3 T flour
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 T margarine or butter

8-inch Double Crust Pastry Recipe

1 cup flour
1/2tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
3 to 4 T cold water

Mix flour and salt well, cut in shortening with a pastry cutter. Make a well in the center and add water one tablespoon at a time mixing until it sticks together, form into ball and split in two. (I use a little more water, but it's tricky to get it to the right consistency. It should not be gooey, it should be firm.)

Instructions:
Heat oven to 425 degree F. Prepare Pastry. Combine blueberries, sugar, flour and cinnamon; toss lightly to mix, set aside. Roll pastry dough out on lightly floured surface. Place in pie pan, it should hang over the edges slightly. Roll out other pie dough. Turn blueberry mixture into pastry lined pie pan. Sprinkle with lemon juice; dot with margarine. Cover with other pie dough. Pinch edges of pie dough together with fingers or a fork. Cut excess dough off with a knife. Cut slits for steam to escape. Bake at 425 degrees F for 35 to 45 minutes or until juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.

9-inch Pie:

9-inch Double Crust Pastry (below)
4 cups blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp lemon juice
2 T butter

9-inch Double Crust Pastry

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
5 to 7 T cold water

Instructions the same as above.

Notes: If you want to see what a good pie looks like just watch Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I might eventually put up pictures, but I never remember to take them so...who knows if that will ever happen. I used the 9-inch Crust with the 8-inch filling and it turned out fine. It is yummy served with ice cream...homemade ice cream would be even better! Here's a kick the can recipe, just for fun!

Kels Virgin Grasshopper Pie

Did you know that the traditional Grasshopper Pie has Creme de Menthe Liqueur (as in alcohol) in it!!! I didn't, so when my husband asked for Grasshopper Pie for his birthday I thought, "That sounds great! What could be better than chocolate and mint together?" Like those yummy Keebler Grasshopper Cookies I shouldn't be fantasizing about right now! So, I typed Grasshopper pie into the Google search engine and it took me forever to find this recipe. It is free from any al-key-hall.
In the original recipe the pie should be ready in 4 hours. In mine you need at least 24 hours! I'll discuss the reason's for that below the recipe. I also was rushing everything when I made my pie and "A watch pot never boils" right? So, here is my adaptation of Baptist Grasshopper Pie found here and be sure to read the "What I did" part to cut your Pie's set up time down.

Note:Needs to be made a day (24 hours) ahead

Virgin Grasshopper Pie
1 Oreo crust (you can make your own but why do that when you can buy it already made right?)
1 7oz jar marshmallow creme
1/8 cup milk
Creme de menthe flavoring to desired flavor
3/4 Heavy Whipping Cream
2 or more drops green food coloring to desired color
1/2 of a Large Cacao/bitter chocolate bar (ground into a very fine powder) or crumbled grasshopper cookies

1.In a saucepan combine milk and marshmallow creme and stir over medium heat until mixed and melted. Chill until mixture holds it's shape when dropped from a spoon.
2.Slowly mix in the mint extract and stir until completely combined. (Not too much, otherwise it will taste like toothpaste!)
3.Beat the whipping cream into marshmallow mixture. Add food coloring to desired color (should be a very pale green).
4.Spread into pie crust. Process the Cacao chocolate bar to a very fine powder(you don't want any chunks, they taste REALLY bitter) or Grasshopper cookies and sprinkle to cover pie. Cover and freeze 24 hours.

What I did:
This pie turned out fabulous! It was so so so so so so...anyways...yummy! I was pleasantly surprised, since I found the recipe randomly online and then altered it a lot! The only thing that was annoying was having to leave it in the freezer for so long to get it to set up properly! I was hoping to be able to eat it that night! Not the next night! I obviously followed the recipe above since it's my recipe; but, I wanted to let you all know what I would do differently next time that I think would significantly reduce the set up time!

1.Melt 16 large marshmallows and 1/4 cup milk OR 1 7 oz jar marshmallow cream (omit the milk when using the marshmallow cream)
2.Leave that mixture in the fridge until it holds it shape dropped from a spoon (I was in a hurry and took it out too early)
If you follow these two steps your pie should only need to be refrigerated for 4 hours before it's ready.

I bought my Creme de Menthe flavoring from Zurchers, if you are going to make this pie anytime soon and you know where I live, you are welcome to come use some of mine, it will probably expire before I use all of it! Otherwise, it's a candy flavoring available at most craft stores like Michael's, etc.

Kels
"A boy doesn't have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn't like pie when he sees there isn't enough to go around." -Ed Howe