Sister's Choice Quilts

My interests are quilting, reading, cooking, family, decorating, and matters of style. I post regular quilting tutorials and book reviews of current fiction.

Is There Anything Better Than Berry Pie?

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It all started with the new issue of Cook’s Magazine, Summer Grilling & Entertaining.  I picked this magazine up at the grocery store, thinking it might give me some ideas for a dinner party I was planning.  Did it ever.  Like the good Weight Watcher that I am, I decided to begin with dessert.

The recipe is called Easy Summer Berry Pie, and calls for two baskets each of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.  Yup, that is six baskets of berries.  At $3.99 a basket, this dessert could really put a dent in the weekly food budget (mmm hmmm, it sure did).  Only pausing for a moment, I decided I was in for the long haul.  I brought these beautiful berries home and put them in a colander and rinsed them all off.  The sight of those colors together and the anticipation of making them into a pie was worth the price of admission, don’t you agree?

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Using the food processor, I put together a simple graham cracker crust, and while it baked, filling my kitchen with the most delicious toasty aroma, I worked on the pie filling.  The first step was to puree two and half cups of the berries in the processor, then smoosh the puree through a wire strainer into a sauce pan.  This took a few minutes, and a bit of elbow grease.  Those raspberry seeds are pretty stubborn and tend to block the wire mesh, and scraping and pressing is required to get the puree to squish through the strainer.  Once you render a cup or so of seedless puree, you add in some sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch to thicken up the mixture over medium heat on the range top.  Once it is pudding like in consistency, you set the puree aside to cool.  Toss the remaining berries with a couple tablespoons of melted red current jelly, fill the cooled crust with the puree, then the whole berries, and you are *done*!  Isn’t it the prettiest thing ever?

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24 responses to “Is There Anything Better Than Berry Pie?”

  1. Yum Yum! Beautiful pie. In early summer, we don’t have to buy blackberries. They grow wild all around here. I love picking them. The only problems are getting there before the birds do, and watching out for rattlesnakes.

  2. Yum Yum! Beautiful pie. In early summer, we don’t have to buy blackberries. They grow wild all around here. I love picking them. The only problems are getting there before the birds do, and watching out for rattlesnakes.

  3. OH my goodness! I want a piece of that pie – it looks wonderful! Even just the berries look so good!

  4. OH my goodness! I want a piece of that pie – it looks wonderful! Even just the berries look so good!

  13. As my Mother would have said, “That pie is too pretty to eat!” And yes, by all means, have dessert first with this one!

  14. As my Mother would have said, “That pie is too pretty to eat!” And yes, by all means, have dessert first with this one!

  21. It’s a beautiful pie. I would have left the blueberries out. =) Maybe put in strawberries instead. I hope it tastes as good as it looks!

  22. It’s a beautiful pie. I would have left the blueberries out. =) Maybe put in strawberries instead. I hope it tastes as good as it looks!

  23. That looks soo yummy! I love the colours of fresh berries, and now I know what I’ll make at least once from the berries at my family’s summerhouse this summer! Thank you for the wonderful tip!

  24. That looks soo yummy! I love the colours of fresh berries, and now I know what I’ll make at least once from the berries at my family’s summerhouse this summer! Thank you for the wonderful tip!