Having picked blueberries with , and then raspberries out of my own garden, a two-berry pie seemed like the thing to make. Looking online for ideas, I found this recipe and went to work.
I had already made a bit of progress before I thought to take some pictures, so the photo above shows the berry combo, the pie crust in process on the left, and the cornstarch/sugar mixture on the right.
A note about the cornstarch: I purchased the package in June, but didn't need to open it until I launched into this pie project. I've never noticed any odor to cornstarch in the past, but this batch smelled odd. Other family members confirmed it smells like it absorbed odors from some other spice. I had not stored it with anything that had a strong odor, and besides, the packaging was such that one would think nothing could penetrate it. I assume it happened wherever it was packaged. It was all I had on hand, so I used it anyway, and didn't notice any resultant odd flavors in the pie. Whew.
Time to roll out the first pie crust. Will it roll out in a shape that comes close to round? If often does not.
A note about the pie crust: I used 2/3 cup lard, not shortening. I posted about rendering that lard back in March.
Not bad! That's close to round!
And it went into the pie plate without getting mangled. This is good!
Now the filling has been stirred together and scooped into the bottom crust, with Earth Balance butter alternative scattered around on the top.
I actually made a lattice crust this time around. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be, and it didn't matter that the second crust rolled out in a rectangle.
I just had to keep track of which strips to fold back to make the lattice-look, and hope none of the strips broke. (They didn't.)
The result is downright pretty, and worth the extra bit of effort.
The finished product, fresh from the oven!
I really ought to have let it cool completely and then refrigerated it before trying to slice it. But where's the fun in that? I wanted a warm slice of pie! So I cut a piece before it had cooled off very much, and, of course, it was very runny. But the flavor was excellent, and that's what matters. I don't mind eating pie with a spoon.
All photos taken on my Android phone.