Blueberries

I've been out hunting for blueberries for the last week or so, and a few days ago I picked a whole bunch.

I've decided to make a pie. I'm not really that great with giving out recipes, since I'm one of those people that just throws stuff together without one... but here goes:

Crust
I use two parts flour to one part fat. For the fat, butter tastes better - and it's better for you - than shortening. But butter also results in a firmer, not-as-flaky crust. So for the best of both worlds, I use half shortening and half butter. Here's the ingredients list:

- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup butter (softened)
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 2 tbsp. cold water

And here's how to make the crust:

Use a fork or pastry blender to combine the flour, butter, shortening and salt. Mix everything just to the point where the flour looks all flaky and crumbly and then stop. Now here's the tricky part: add in the 2 tablespoons of water and mix it in with your hands. This should be just enough water to allow you to form the dough into a ball. Don't over work the dough, just kinda slap it together. If your dough starts to get a little warm and sticky, you may need to put it in the refrigerator for a bit to cool it off.

Next use a good sized piece of parchment paper and put your dough on top. Then break off another piece and push it down on top of your dough. This top piece will keep your dough from sticking to your rolling pin. Roll out the dough over the parchment paper with a rolling pin, until it's about a 1/8" to 1/4" thick. Remove the top paper and pick up the dough attached to the bottom paper, flip it over onto an 8" pie pan and remove the paper. Form the dough to the pan with your hands and remove the excess around the rim (I use the extra dough for decoration.)

Filling
OK, the hard part is over! For the filling, I'm using wild blueberries that I picked around my house. These can be a bit more tart than store-bought ones, so I will be using 3/4 cup of sugar. If your blueberries are from the store, you may want to use a little less sugar than me.

So here are the ingredients for the filling:

6 cups fresh (or frozen) blueberries, rinsed, stems removed (if using frozen fruit, defrost and drain first)
1 tbsp. lemon or lime juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white granulated sugar (1/2 cup if using store-bought blueberries)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces

Optional: I didn't mention it but I did brush on an egg wash over the crust.

And how to make it:

Pre-heat your oven to 425°F. In a bowl, mix everything but the butter. Once all the fruit is evenly coated, pour the mixture into the pie crust and top it with the small pieces of butter. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the crust toasts to a golden color. Let it cool before serving and enjoy!