Apricot and Blueberry pie

When a friend gave us some apricots, I started looking for an apricot pie recipe.  Most of the recipes I found involved cooking and pureeing the fruit to make a chiffon or the use of dried apricots.  Neither of those options was appealing at the time, so I decided to do it as a regular fruit pie - and throw in my last bag of frozen blueberries.  This was yummy pie paired with vanilla ice cream.

Apricot and Blueberry Pie

Pastry for two crust 9 inch pie

About 3 cups of sliced apricots

1-2 cups frozen blueberries (or fresh)

2/3 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

4 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg or cinnamon

• Combine the apricots and blueberries in a bowl with the sugar and lemon juice.  Let sit for about 30 minutes to juice while you prepare the pastry and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Stir the cornstarch and spice into the fruit and pour into the pie shell.  Put on top crust and flute edges. Bake for 15 minutes.
• Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes.
• Let cool for an hour or two before serving.

Fruit basket pie

I was a little disappointed when I got my basket from the produce co-op this week, because the berries we received were not looking daisy fresh.  They really needed to be used right away.  We also got more mangoes, but still had a couple of mangoes left from last week.  You know what that means, right?  Time to make pie!  Do these fruits look like an odd mix for pie?

They look pretty together, so why not try them together in a pie?  I think the combo ended up beautiful in a pie, and it tasted great.  This is a pie worth making "on purpose"!

Fruit Basket Pie

Pastry for deep dish 9" double crust pie

3 mangoes, cut into chunks

1 quart strawberries, cut into halves or quarters

1 cup fresh blueberries

Juice of one lime

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

Mix the fruit with the sugar, flour and lime juice and let sit for 10 minutes to juice.

Pour fruit into pie shell and cover with top crust.  I like to brush on some ice water and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for an addition 30 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling.

Serve slightly warm with ice cream.

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.

Fresh Blueberry Pie!

Before I froze my plethora of blueberries, I had to make a pie (of course).  I used an old-fashioned recipe from a 1950's cookbook.  Next time I'll add a couple tablespoons of instant tapioca because the blueberries made so much juice that the flour the recipe calls for just couldn't thicken it all.  I sprinkled course sugar on top.  Doesn't that make it pretty?  The pie was great with vanilla bean ice cream and since blueberries are on the "super foods" list you can eat this without guilt!

Here's the recipe (as I made it, but, again, I think this pie can use a some instant tapioca to thicken up the juices a bit):

Fresh Blueberry Pie


Pastry for double crust pie
3/4 cup sugar
5 Tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
 1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter


Heat oven to 425 degrees.


Roll out pastry and line deep pie pan with pastry.


Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then fold in the lemon juice and berries. Pour into the pastry lined pie pan.  Dot with the butter, then top with pastry and cut vents (or make a lattice top).  Brush the top crust with cold water and sprinkle with sugar.


Bake for 40 minutes.  Let cool before serving.

Blueberry muffins

Bright and early this morning we picked up our produce basket, and a case of blueberries.  I'm not completely sure what I was thinking when I ordered all those berries, but I was blinded by the "good price".  So as soon as we got home I made blueberry muffins and they were definitely a great way to start a Saturday.  I will obviously be making blueberry pie, then freezing a bunch of berries.  Stay tuned for more blueberry goodies....and in the meantime try these muffins.  They are the easiest thing to make and really yummy.

Blueberry Muffins


1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (may use all one kind of flour)
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons shortening
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk


1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and well drained or 3/4 cup canned blueberries, rinsed and well drained


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.


Mix together all ingredients except the berries with a pastry blender or large fork.  Stir only until the ingredients are blended, do not over-mix.  Fold in the berries.  Put into 12 greased or lined muffin cups.


Bake 25 minutes, or until golden brown.  Serve hot with butter.

Fruits of the Forest....an interesting forest....

On Sunday I thought some of my "adult" children would stop by, so definitely had pie plans.  Unfortunately they changed their plans.  I went forward with the pie anyway.  I found this recipe called "Fruits of the Forest" pie and already had almost all the ingredients on hand.  It's an interesting variety of fruit and I can't imagine where the forest would be that contains all these fruits, but I'd love to visit!  My 16 year-old daughter said she didn't like it after taking a bit of her brother's pie, but she was already  prejudiced because it looked purple (because of the blueberries) and she said she hates purple food.  Everybody else LOVED it.  My dear husband ate about half the pie over the course of two days.  I will definitely make this one again. (It was especially great served warm with vanilla ice cream).

Fruits of the Forest Pie

1 double-crust recipe of pie pastry (for deep dish pie pan)
2 peaches or one small can of sliced peaches, sliced more thinly
1 pear, peeled and sliced
1 apple, peeled and sliced
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup pineapple, fresh or canned chunks (I used fresh! Yummy!)
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 fresh squeezed lemon
3 Tablespoons cornstarch

• Prepare the pastry and line a deep dish pan with pastry.
• In a large bowl combine the fruit with 1/2 cup sugar and the lemon juice and spices.  Set aside for about 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Mix the remaining 3 tablespoons fo sugar and the cornstarch together in a small bowl, then stir into the mixture of fruit.
• Pour the fruit into the pastry-lined pie pan and top with pastry.  Flute the edges and cut vents into the top pastry.  I like to brush the top with ice water (left over from making the pastry) then sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake pie for 30 minutes.  Then turn the temperature down to 375 degrees and bake for 30-35 minutes more.
• Let cool a little before serving, or serve at room temperature.