Happy Birthday To...
...my wife. Thirty-X years ago today the world was made a little more beautiful.
Being the rebel that she is, my wife takes an anti-cake stance for her birthday. Instead she prefers pie - blueberry lemon to be exact. Last year I found an easy recipe for her request and amazingly I managed not to mess it up. Today I'm going for two in a row. I'm no PJ Mullen or The Good Cook, but thought some of you may enjoy the recipe yourselves.
And if you'd like to read the story of how Ashley and I met, you can read about it at this site.
Lemon Blueberry Pie
Pie Filling:
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
5 cups fresh or frozen thawed blueberries, rinsed well
Pastry:
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel 2/3 cup shortening, cold 4 + tablespoons ice cold water 1 tablespoon cold lemon juice
Preparation:
Pie Pastry:
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
5 cups fresh or frozen thawed blueberries, rinsed well
Pastry:
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel 2/3 cup shortening, cold 4 + tablespoons ice cold water 1 tablespoon cold lemon juice
Preparation:
In a large bowl combine sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, lemon juice and grated peel, and blueberries. Roll out half of the pastry (recipe follows) - line a 9-inch pie pan and trim edges. Pour blueberry mixture into pie crust. Roll out remaining pastry to about 1/8 inch thick. Cover pie; trim, turn edge under and crimp. Cut a few vents in top of crust to allow steam to escape. Bake at 425° for 40 minutes, or until crust is nicely browned.
Pie Pastry:
Sift together flour and salt; blend in lemon peel. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are the size of small peas. Mix together 4 tablespoons of the water and the lemon juice. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of lemon water over the dry ingredients; mix lightly, adding just enough additional cold water to hold dough together. Divide dough into 2 portions and shape each portion into a ball. Flatten pastry balls 1 at a time, on lightly floured surface. Roll out to form a circle, rolling from center edge until dough is 1/8-inch.