Fall is here and so is pumpkin pie

My brother sent me a link to a pumpkin pie recipe at the King Arthur Flour website, and when I looked at the recipe it looked so great that I had to give it a try.  There is a distinct possibility that this one will make it into the repertoire for Thanksgiving this year.

My husband didn't even try this pie, preferring to stick with the "regular" pumpkin pie I made instead. (He's not exactly the adventurous type when it comes to food).  Our more daring friends Mary and Curtis came over to give this new pie a try, and they gave it a thumbs up.  My son Ryan loved it too.  I thought it was delicious, and even better for breakfast the next day! King Arthur also gives a pie crust recipe with this recipe, but I used my normal pastry.  I really don't like the more "bready" pie crust that comes from using stuff like baking powder and vinegar in it.  Other than that, this is a great recipe!  Here's a link for Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

Apple Blueberry Pie

A couple of weeks ago I decided to enter a pie in a pie contest at the Gardener's Market, just for fun.  It was advertised that it would be judged by "local pie lovers".  So I made a nice peach pie and took it on over.  It was fun to browse the market while waiting for the judging, and my children got to make some Halloween crafts.  Now, I didn't enter the contest because I was hell-bent on winning - which is a good thing because my pie won third prize.  But the funny thing was that the "pie" that won was a pumpkin cake which one judge said "tastes just like pumpkin pie".  You would think that "pie lovers" would know the difference between pie and something that "tastes like" pie, so that was funny.

We ran into our friends Jim and Eleanor at the market, and Jim tasted my pie.  He was kind enough to praise it, so the next day I made a pie for our families to share.  People who appreciate good pie are the ones most likely to get more of it!

I had some apples on hand, and remembered the blueberries in my freezer, so Jim and Eleanor got to try my first Apple Blueberry Pie. We all loved it with ice cream.  Here's the recipe:

Apple Blueberry Pie

1 double crust pastry dough
5 cups peeled and sliced apples
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons lemon juice

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Roll out half of pastry dough and line deep dish pie pan.
• Mix together apples, half of the blueberries, sugar, flour, cinnamon and lemon juice.
• Pour into pastry lined pie pan.
• Sprinkle remaining blueberries on top.
• Roll out remaining pastry and place on top of pie.  A lattice top is pretty on this pie.
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• Reduce oven heat to 375 degrees.
• Bake an additional 40 minutes.
• Let cool for an hour before slicing.