Monday, July 7, 2008

TWD: Double Crusted Blueberry Pie



One of my favorite pies is blueberry. I come by this love in two ways: environmentally and genetically.


I grew up in the small town of Bellevue, Washington. Well, it was small way back then. It grew substantially after I left for college, so not much has remained the same. A few years ago, when I returned for a visit, I happened to see a display of photographs taken of early Bellevue. The photos were so dated! Cars, buildings, clothing styles – they all looked like something out of the distant past. Only they were depicting the years when I actually lived there. Gosh, they sure didn’t seem dated or old to me at the time…… Anyway, in the part of town where Iived, there were still blueberry farms. During summer vacations kids made extra money by picking blueberries, so my dream has always been to grow blueberries as a reminder of my childhood. But it seems that I always manage to live in places with alkaline soils, so it has yet to happen.


I remember lots of great things about my maternal grandfather. He chewed Juicy Fruit gum, loved the Dodgers, and would take me to the beach in San Clemente when I would come to visit. His most favorite pie in the world was blueberry with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Anytime blueberries were in season, my grandmother would bake him a pie. I guess I was predisposed, then, to love blueberry pie as well.


So, this week, when Amy, of South in Your Mouth, chose Double Crusted Blueberry Pie for our TWD event, I could hardly wait. Luckily, it’s blueberry time here. The stores have containers of all sizes, and if you are really adventuresome, there’s a local grower with a U-pick blueberry section. I decided to make the pie for 4th of July, in honor of my grandfather and also for my grandmother, whose birthday fell on the 4th. (With one exception, all my family members have holiday birthdays.)


I did substitute lime zest and juice for the lemon because that’s what I had on hand. Otherwise, everything else was the same. I use the butter-shortening combination quite frequently. Butter adds flavor, while shortening contributes to flakiness, and most shortenings, nowadays, are trans-fat free. I also used finely ground plain bread crumbs from Trader Joe’s, and you would never know they were part of the pie. Overall, the pie was delicious, and except for the addition of a bit more salt in the filling, I will definitely be baking it again. (My sugar crystals were lavender, hence the weird crust color.)




All the other bakers at Tuesdays with Dorie will be sharing their delicious versions of this pie, so be sure to stop by.




21 comments:

Mary Ann said...

Looks yummy!

Rigby said...

Your pie looks delicious....are those cutouts on the top of the crust? Cute :)

ostwestwind said...

Your pie looks great. I see I have a lot to learn about double-crust pies ;-)

Ulrike from Küchenlatein

Engineer Baker said...

Oh darn, predisposed to love blueberry pie. Such a hardship :)

kimberly salem said...

mmm, lavender sugar! your pie looks great!

Anonymous said...

I love blueberry pie. Just love it. And I would eat it with lavender sugar crystals, too!

Prudy said...

Lavender sugar with blueberry pie sounds just so purpley good!

Susie Homemaker said...

the litte cut outs are really cute - and I love your background story...it really makes it personal. great job!

Christine said...

Your pie looks delicious!

Dolores said...

Blueberry farms... what a wonderful environment in which to grow up. And your pie is a beautiful tribute to your grandparents. Great job.

LyB said...

Your pie looks delicious and that was a lovely story about your grandparents. :)

Pamela said...

I love the story about your grandparents. Glad you liked the pie. It looks great.

Mari said...

A great story and a great pie! Well done!

Susan @ SGCC said...

Your pie looks lovely! I actually really like the lavender sugar. Great job!

Beth G. @SweetLifeKitchen said...

yummy pie & a great story-post too!! The lavender crystals are cooool!

marae said...

so cute with the cutouts and crystals..love the creativity! mine got a little runny and the crust was not fun but it was yummy.

Summertime said...

Your pie is gorgeous. Love the lavender sugar with the deep blue filling.

The Queen of Quite a Lot said...

Your grandparents sounds so sweet. I love the cutouts on top of the pie--really cute. Great job@

Di said...

I lived in Bellevue for a year during the four years I lived in the Seattle area. I don't know if they're still there (it's been over ten years since then), but I can picture at least one blueberry farm in my head.

Jacque said...

Aaah, how sweet that you made this in memory of your grandpa and for your grandma. I'll bet he would have loved it.

Jayne said...

Thank you for sharing your memories - I bet they make the pie taste that much sweeter. Nice job!