PIES!

Warning: This is NOT my strong suit! I'm still learning how to make a good pie. I tend to make them a little dark. But here's what I've picked up so far:

For my sister-in-law's annual 4th of July cookout, I volunteered pies. Perfect opportunity to practice, right? :) I decided to make 3 pies. Two would be flag-patterned with blueberry in the corner and cherry and strawberry-rhubarb for the rest. The third would be apple. I wanted to avoid the canned pie filling when possible, I LOVE a good cherry pie and don't really care for the taste of the canned stuff. So I started hunting for filling recipes. Here's what I decided to go with:

I found my cherry pie filling recipe on My Baking Addiction. Great baking blog, check it out if you have a chance!

Homemade Cherry Pie Filling:
(mybakingaddiction.com)

5-6 cups of fresh pitted cherries
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup granulated sugar
4 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. almond extract

"In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cherries, water, lemon juice, sugar and cornstarch. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes. Stir in almond extract. Cool slightly before using as a topping."

I set right to work on the cherry:

Note: Properly pitting cherries is harder than conquering the western world and leaves your hands rust-colored for about 3 weeks (or until your nails grow out and you managed to exfoliate your palms). I broke about 15 toothpicks, stabbed myself a few times, crushed dozen of the slippery little devils and practiced a great deal of restraint to keep from swearing multiple times. I finally got the hang of it, using a straightened paper clip. Good luck.

Next I tackled the blueberry, with a recipe I found on allrecipes.com

Homemade Blueberry Pie Filling

3 pints of fresh blueberries
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. cold butter cut into pieces
1 pint of fresh blueberries

"Cook and stir 3 pints blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon in a saucepan with water over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and add butter and remaining 1 pint blueberries; stir gently so blueberries stay whole. Allow to cool."

I followed that with a strawberry-rhubarb filling recipe from I-don't-know-where, that spent years tucked into my recipe box, ready and waiting for this day. :)

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Filling:

2 1/2 cups chopped fresh red rhubarb
2 1/2 cups chopped fresh strawberries
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. Minute Tapioca
1 Tbsp. All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together all ingredients. Pour into prepared pie crust.

I finished with my mom's apple pie recipe.

Mom's Apple Pie Filling:

8 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced (about 6 cups)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
Dash of Nutmeg

Combine all ingredients. Pour into prepared pie crust.

For my crust I used a double batch of my mother-in-law's recipe, from her mother... ;)

Grandma Colman's Pie Crust:
(makes 5 crusts)

5 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. icing sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
2 cups shortening
3/4 cup water
1 egg
1 tsp. vinegar (I use red wine vinegar)

Sift together dry ingredients, cut in shortening. Mix water, egg and vinegar. Pour over dry, combine until a soft dough forms.

Then the fun began.

Using a star shaped cookie cutter and a paring knife, and constructed myself 2 flag pies and one star-covered one. :)

The pies were yummy, but my kids wanted to make some just for us. Only, they each wanted different flavors, and that was a LOT of work and makes a LOT of pie... So using the leftover ingredients, I invented (or at least I think I did) Teacup Pies!