Blueberry Pie

I absolutely love food blogging, but I have to admit that there are both pros and cons to this hobby.

Pro: Creating and eating lots of yummy recipes.
Con: Coming up with recipes that other people will want to make and eat (not always as easy as one might think)

Pro:  Having a greater appreciation for food in general.
Con: Driving my family crazy with my photo taking and over-excitement for food! ;)

Pro: Always having fresh baked goods in the house.
Con: Weight gain caused by eating everything I make!

Thankfully, I've come up with a solution to the weight gain--give the food away!  I love to send my creations to work with Mike, and my co-workers never complain when I bring food in either.  Last Christmas, Mike and I gave his dad a coupon book good for one baked good of his choice each month for the next year.  It's turned out to be one of the most fun gifts I have ever given!  It's a win-win: I get to bake and someone else gets to eat what I bake!

In May, he requested a pie.  Any kind of pie I wanted to make.  I still have an abundance of blueberries in my freezer from last year and Mike's dad has requested blueberry muffins twice, so I knew he would enjoy a blueberry pie. 

Little did I know, at the time, that making a blueberry pie would work out perfectly with the other blueberry recipes I've made, leading to this impromptu Blueberry week!

I was short on time the week that I made this pie, so I purchased a Pillsbury pie crust.  You could certainly make our own, but sometimes pre-made is the way to go!  I've never actually made a blueberry pie before, but I had a basic idea for what goes in the filling.  I also attempted a lattice pie crust for the first time ever.  Simply Recipes has a great tutorial for making a lattice crust. 

Though I didn't get a chance to eat the pie, I heard that it was delicious!  A couple days after we gave my father-in-law the pie, I heard there was only one piece left.  That's the sign of a successful recipe!

Blueberry Pie

Makes 1 9" pie, approximately 8 servings

Ingredients:
2 pre-made pie crust dough rounds (I used Pillsbury)
3 cups frozen blueberries (fresh works too!)
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon sugar

1.  Follow the instructions on the pie crust to thaw, if necessary.  

2.  Unroll one of the pie crusts and place it in a greased 9" pie tin.  Trim any excess crust.

3.  In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice.

4.  Add the blueberries to the sugar mixture and toss gently to coat.

5.  Pour the blueberries into the bottom pie crust.

6.  Unroll the remaining pie dough and cut it into 1" strips.

7.  Arrange the dough strips in a lattice design on top of the blueberry filling.There's a great tutorial on making a lattice crust at Simply Recipes.

8.  Sprinkle the dough with sugar.

9.  Place the pie tin on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 15 minutes.  Then reduce the oven temperature to 350 and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Allow the pie to set for at least 2 hours before cutting into it.