Homemade Blueberry Pie (no...seriously)

If you know me, you know that cooking/baking is really not my thing.  I try...don't get me wrong I certainly try.  But usually it comes out kind of gross and/or inedible.  It's just not my specialty.

So, for Thanksgiving I was really thankful that my completely homemade blueberry pies came out awesome!

I made two pies - one for my family and one for Mr. JG's.  Thanks to Aimee's crust tutorial, I had that part down and the filling was super simple.  Here's the recipe (from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook with just a few tweaks):

Ingredients:
For the filling:
5 cups of frozen blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

For the crust:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsalted butter (11 tablespoons)
8 - 10 tablespoons cold water
Small amount of milk and sugar to top the crust

(1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 

(2) Mix your frozen berries with the sugar and flour for the filling.  Set in a large bowl on the counter and let thaw for about 45 minutes.  The berries will be ready to add to your pie when they're partially thawed but still icy.

(3) Sift the flour and salt for the crust into a large food processor.  Cut your butter into tablespoon size pieces and add to the food processor (keep the butter cold, don't handle too much).  Then run the processor for just a second or two until the butter is in pea size pieces.  Then slowly add your cold water (just a few tablespoons at a time).  You'll know you have enough water and the dough is the right consistency when it forms a large ball inside of the food processor.

(4) Roll out the dough onto a clean and floured counter top.  Once you have it rolled to pie crust thickness, roll it onto your rolling pin then unroll onto the pie dish.  Make sure not to stretch the pie crust as your unroll it.  Trim the excess crust leaving 1/2 inch of crush around the edges of your pie dish.  (I was home by myself cooking this and may have looked around and loudly said "it worked!" when I got the pie crust onto the dish without having it fall apart.  It's times like that when I really need an audience.)

(5) Pour your thawed berry mixture over your pie crust.

(6) Roll the remaining dough out and then cut strips of dough (mine were about 3/4 inch wide) and use those to create a lattice pattern on the top of the pie.  I spaced my lattice pieces about an inch apart.

(7) Once you've completed your lattice top, brush the crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar.  Then make an aluminum foil cover with a 7" circle cut out of the center.  Use this to cover the edges of your crust but leave the center portion of your pie uncovered.

(8) Cook your pie for 50 minutes with the aluminum foil cover, then remove the cover and cook for an additional 25 to 30 minutes.  You'll know your pie is done with the crust is a nice golden brown and the blueberries are bubbling.  If you used fresh berries instead of frozen, reduce your cooking time to 25 minutes with the aluminum foil cover, then an additional 25 to 30 minutes without.

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! 

And a great black Friday...here was my big black Friday deal:



An antique wood sign we picked up at a barn sale Friday morning.  I love it!