Fourth of July Blueberry Pie (Lemon Pie Shell)

I love love LOVE this recipe that my mom sent me 3 years ago. Yum! Make the lemon pie crust too. (See below) It is TOTALLY worth it!

Prep 40 minutes. Chill 2 hours. Bake 13 mins. Oven 450 degrees.
Only 300 calories and 10 grams fat for 1/8 of pie.



Fresh Fourth of July Blueberry Pie

1. In a large saucepan combine 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, and 1/4 teaspoons salt. Add 1/3 cup water and 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice. Add 2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries and toss lightly. Cook and stir over medium heat until bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more (mixture will be thick.) Remove from heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of butter. Cool.

2. Add 3 1/2 cups fresh blueberries to cooled filing, stirring gently. Turn into Lemon Pie Shell. Cover and chill at least 2 hours before serving. Serve with Vanilla Bean ice cream.



Lemon Pie Shell:
1. In a medium mixing bowl stir together 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour and 3 tablespoons sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in 1/3 cup cold butter until pieces are pea-size.

2. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 beaten egg yolk, 1 tablespoon water, and 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel. Gradually stir into flour mixture. (Dough will not be completely moistened.) Gently kneed dough just until a ball forms. If necessary, cover dough with plastic wrap and chill 30 to 60 minutes or until dough is easy to handle.

3. On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten dough. Roll dough from center to edge into a 12-inch circle. To transfer pastry, wrap it around a rolling pin. Unroll pastry into 9-inch pie plate, being careful not to stretch pastry. Trim pastry to 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie plate. Fold under extra pastry. Crimp edge as desired. Prick bottom and side of pastry in pie plate with a fork. Prick all around where bottom and side meet. Line pastry with a double thickness of foil.

4. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 5 minutes more or until golden, covering edges of pastry with foil, if necessary, to prevent over-browning. Cool on wire rack.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

It just wouldn't be fall without pumpkin bread. Make a double batch and share a loaf with a friend. Or use muffin tins and share with many. (Adjust bake times accordingly!)

PUMPKIN BREAD

One 9 x 5-inch loaf.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

Whisk together:

1 1/2 all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.

Combine in a small bowl:

1/3 cup non-fat milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat in a large bowl until fluffy: (I love my kitchen-aid mixer!!!)

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, softened.

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

Beat in one at a time:

2 large eggs

Add and beat on low speed just until blended:

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk mixture, beating on low speed or stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Fold in:

1/2 cup dried cranberries

(1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans) - I omit this.

Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely on the rack.

Ghirardelli Double (triple) Chocolate Brownie Mix

For my parent's 40th wedding anniversary, in addition to an incredible dinner out the night before and a super fun photo shoot, we baked Ghirardelli brownies. There is no alternative here. When you are making brownies, nothing else comes close. Believe me: Ghirardelli brownies are superior to all! In fact, my mom, my sister, and I have experimented with many different from scratch brownies recipes, and I still think that Ghirardelli's Double Chocolate Brownie Mix is the only way to make brownies.

Mad Hatter Cake

This will be the last post for a while, I imagine. I'm shifting my gears back to teaching and learning and away from baking and eating.

This past weekend, my husband and I had the pleasure of attending a good friend's wedding. And, boy did she have a cake!

Can you tell from the photo? Those are not rectangular prisms for layers. They are trapezoidal prisms. It gave the whole cake a topsy-turvy, Alice-in-Wonderland feel. The colors and details were over the top, as you can see in the photo. So fun!

Now, I'm not a huge fan of fondant, so thank goodness the cake and filling were excellent! In fact, guess who was the cake's creator... Yes, that's right Rockwell's Creative Cakes in Old Towne Orange on Lemon Street. Kudos to bakery. The cake was a real knock-out!

Blueberry Muffins!

When I see a blueberry sale, I jump. So, with a 2 lb box at $4.99, my first thought was, should I make a blueberry pie?... blueberry jam? ... or blueberry MUFFINS!

This recipe is adapted from the JOY of Cooking's - 75th Addition on page 635.

Blueberry Muffins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line 12 muffin tins.

Select and rinse 1 1/2 cups raw blueberries. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

In another bowl, whisk together:

2 large eggs

1 cup skim milk

1/6 cup packed brown sugar

1/6 cup sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add wet mixture to flour mixture until just combined. Don't over-mix.

Lightly stir-in blueberries.

Evenly distribute the batter among the 12 muffin cups.

Bake 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.

Let cool 3 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

The Perfect Circle Cupcakery

Old Towne Orange is adorable. I don't need to tell you that. And, today was my first time in The Perfect Circle Cupcakery at 165 N. Glassell St.

The Perfect Circle Cupcakery is decked out in damask print and baby blue with a big print of Audrey Hepburn casually smiling at you as you eat at one of the cute cafe tables. An excellent location and fun atmosphere, you would be remiss not to stop in after a dinner at Cafe Lucca or a breakfast at The Filling Station. Ben and I chose a fun flavor of chocolate cupcake with lemon frosting. What a winning combo! Check out other fun flavors like "Old Towne Orange," "Tuxedo," "Coconut Bliss," and "Cookies and Cream." Yummy!

New England Blueberry Buckle!

We have a guest baker today: My mom, Judy Larson! Here is her Blueberry Buckle recipe which everyone in the family adores!

New England Blueberry Buckle

1/2 c soft butter
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
2 1/2 c flour
1 c buttermilk
1 t grated lemon peel
4 c blueberries

Topping
2/3 c brown sugar
1/2 c flour
1 t cinnamon
4 T cold butter

Butter a 9/13 in pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Make topping by blending together in a bowl brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut butter into pieces and cut into flour mixture with a pastry blender and
refrigerate.

In a large bowl beat butter and sugar with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until blended. Sift baking powder, salt, and flour and add to the bowl, alternately
with the milk. Add lemon peel. Pour batter into pan. Toss Blueberries with juice of lemon, then sprinkle evenly over the batter. Evenly distribute topping over the berries. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick pulls clean.