Passing round blueberry pie

I have been meaning to share my Aunt Jean's blueberry pie recipe for a while now and I think its fitting to begin re-posting with this dish.

It always feels presumptuous to share other people's recipes.  I suppose in part because it doesn't feel like its mine to give.  Even more, though, I think its because I have relationships with these dishes and the people with whom I've shared them.

This pie recipe is a gem, as my grandmother would have said.  It has rescued the grumbling bellies of many an all-night game session, become the dessert for surprise guests, and served as a backup for a botched potluck dish that got a little too creative.  Its a quick prep pat in crust that you can use with almost any berry combinations.  I often keep frozen berries around and, therefore, can always whip this up if necessary at a moments notice.

Crust:

2 C flour

1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2/3 C oil (something with mild flavor is best)
3 Tbsp milk

Pie Filling:
4 C fresh blueberries (or 2 pkgs. frozen)
1 C sugar
1/4 C flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp butter

Mix ingredients for crust.  

Pat all but 1 cup into the bottom and sides of a 9-10" pie pan to form an even crust.  

Mix berries and dry ingredients for filling.  

Pour into crust.  Dot with butter. 

Sprinkle the reserved 1 cup of crust over the top and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 400 for 40-50 minutes until it bubbles in the middle.
Allow to cool and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Laziness

Its officially been over a year since I last posted on this blog and, frankly, my posting had been sporadic at best for a couple years before that.  I could generate all kinds of reasons to explain my negligent behavior, but I suppose this post's heading is as fair a rationale as any.  

On the bright side, we finally have internet at our home.  For three years I've survived without internet by writing lists of emails to send, articles to look up, searches to make.  I've huddled in the snow to find wifi points near my house and tried to cram in every spare internet chore I could between tasks at school. and thank god for the public library.

I know.  It was stupid.

But it was cheeper.  And it was quieter.  

Just also terribly, horribly, cripplingly inconvenient.

In conclusion,  I promise two things: 

1) there will be another post 

2) it will be about food

Memories of Summer's Green

Once again, I have fallen far behind in posting in part because of laziness and in part because my camera went missing. Fortunately, it was recently replaced by Ken's parents  (Thanks!!).  As I was digging through my photos and reorganizing my files, I came across the last few photos I had downloaded before the disappearance of my camera.

The bright fresh green of our vegetables seems almost gaudy in contrast to the drab white of January... but they certainly are beautiful.   

Pork & Sprouts

Above and below are pictures of a recent meal Ken made for a good college friend of mine. The entire meal was just fantastic. The top image is of a squash blossom salad with baby greens and roasted eggplant, zucchini, and pine nuts. It was a refreshing and flavorful start to our meal. I certainly wasn't the only one to consider how improper licking the plate might be.

Above is an image of the walnut encrusted pork with a brussel sprout and corn compote. The pork was moist, nutty, rich, and yet somehow still light. The gravy was mouthwatering. As always Ken's brussel sprouts were fantastic. This was the first time he had included the corn and made more of a medley. It was a great variation of the dish and very tasty.

For dessert, we went to a local custard shop in Champaign called Jarling's a Custard Cup. The custard is rich, creamy, and made fresh on site. We only live a few blocks from the place and are often tempted on summer nights to take late night jaunts over to enjoy some custard with the flocks of ever-present customers. Jarling's frequently wins awards and excellent reviews from all kinds of folks-- I highly recommend stopping by if you're ever in Champaign, IL.

Garden Treats: Basil Pasta, Zuchinni, and Mashed Turnips

Back to some food pictures.
Here's a picture of a recent meal that Ken whipped up one evening with produce from our garden and the local farmer's market.

He made homemade basil pasta with some of the massive amounts of basil we've harvested from the garden and a sweet tomato sauce to top it. The zuchini dish was just amazing - I've never had anything quite like it - and can't wait for Ken to make it again before zuchini season is over. The mashed turnips had a really unique flavor but the texture was not as creamy as regular mashed potatoes. I think next time we'll try half potato/half turnip and see what we get.

Hope everyone's summer is going well and that you've all been able to enjoy some of the abundance of amazing summer produce.

All I ever post are garden pictures...

The garden is growing beautifully and we've harvested quite a number of lovely vegetables. Crunchy peppers, flavorful eggplant, cherry tomatoes, yum.

More Garden Photos

These photos of the garden are about a week old. I'll put up newer photos when I take them. Its really amazing how much the garden can change in one week. Right now, most things are flowering. We've harvested a lot of greens and a few peapods. We can see the very first tomatoes and peppers starting to take shape. Its all very exciting.

Main Garden


Tomatoes and Peppers