Blake tries baking for a change

Two posts in one day.  Ya, I've been busy.  I don't bake very often, but tonight I tried to make a mixed berry pie.  Fortunatly, it didn't turn out too bad.  A short word about pies.  In my opinion the stress of pie making lies in the crust.  I suggest being kind to yourself and just buy frozen.  There are a few food items that are so well prepared by others that it isn't worth my time to do it my self.  Pie crust falls into that category. 

One the other hand, pie filling is a different beast.  Pie filling from a can is good, but it can often have an unnatural flavor from the metal can and the added preservatives.  If you are going to spend time making a pie, forget the crust, do your own filling.  A couple ingredients I suggest for fruit pies include small amounts of nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon juice, and butter.  There are plenty of recipes online, but you can also eyeball it if you want.  To thicken it I like to use a combination of corn starch and tapioca granules for texture.  Make sure you put an egg wash on top of the crust for the golden finish.  For this pie I even pressed the berries through a food mill to remove almost all the seeds. I would only suggest doing that if you don't mind the cleanup.  This pie was a surprise success.  I think I'll do another for the Boise State game party later this week.

The only mistake I made was forgetting to properly seal my crusts together.  During baking my top crust lifted off and floated on a sea of berry filling.  It fell back into place and then sealed again after  I took it out.  Like I said before, I don't bake very often.

Please feel free to comment about your own pie making tips.