I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

blackberries

Mixed Berry Rustic Pie

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While we were in Maine last weekend, Price made blueberry pancakes for breakfast one day. Of course they were Maine blueberries. On a whim we gave Autumn some. I say ‘on a whim’ because she is not a breakfast person baby. Her morning bottle is eaten in 2 parts and it’s the smallest bottle of the day. So I didn’t think she would be interested in it.

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Well, I was wrong. Really wrong. She gobbled it up. And then we made more and saved them for lunch for her and she ate them up too. (Just to clarify there was no syrup involved!)

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We had occasionally given her berries prior to this but this has definitely awakened something in her because since then she eaten a lot of blueberries and had some

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So I can see that she is going to L-O-V-E this Mixed Berry Rustic Pie when she is older.

There are 4 different kinds of berries in this pie- blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. It’s loaded up with berry goodness. When Price had his slice (for breakfast- better lighting!) he said it was ‘berry good’. ba-dum-tss!

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Because there is not much too it I would really urge you to make homemade crust for it as it adds to much good texture and flavor. Plus, I think it would just look better with its handmade edges vs its factory cut circle-y edge. I am a big fan of store-bought crust, but I think this one needs a handmade one.

As well, I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to putting in cornstarch to thicken the filling.  I think it’s sooo much worse to have a soupy pie than one that is a bit too thick. It affects the bottom of the crust and how you get the slice out of the plate. So if you think you’ve used enough, add some more!

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Other than that… this recipe is a piece of cake! 🙂

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Mixed Berry Rustic Pie

Makes a 9″ Pie

Ingredients

  • 1-1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 cup cold butter
  • 1/8-1/4 cup ice water

For the Filling

  • 1 pint blueberries
  • 6 oz raspberries
  • 6 oz blackberries
  • 12 oz strawberries
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2-3 Tablespoons cornstarch (depending how juicy the fruit is)
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Process

For the Crust

  1. In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt and sugar. Cut the cold butter into very small pieces, put back into the refrigerator to keep extra cold.
  2. Using a food processor/pastry cutter, or your hands, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture crumbly and looks like sand.
  3. Slowly add in the water until the mixture holds together.
  4. Pat and form into a loose ball. If the mixture is too warm at this point then put it back into the refrigerator for a few.
  5. Flour work surface and roll out crust two inches larger than pie pan. Place crust in the pie pan.

To make the Pie:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Combine berries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice in large bowl.
  3. Add berries to pie crust. Then fold edges of crust over filling, creasing as needed.
  4. Bake at 30-40 minutes or until filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown.
  5. Serve warm with ice cream!

Inspired from Tidy Mom

Very Berry Sangria

Price and I recently had a party at our place for my birthday. It was centered around a Mexican theme so I’ll be posting a few recipes from that that works well for a fiesta or just a great gathering. Enjoy!

I love sangria so much because it works well year round and with so many different add in’s. You can do citrus, stone fruit, or berries, or an combination in between. I really prefer wine sangria but I have been enjoying red sangria more and more. Most of all I love to serve sangria when people are over. It works well for a crowd since you start with inexpensive wine, add fun fruit to it and it really transforms into a great drink.

 

This red sangria is packed with fruity flavor. All of the different types of berries add so much sweet, bright flavor.  Each of the 4 different types of berries provides a different flavor to the sangria. Then when you add the tequila you get a bit of a kick to it in the end. The seltzer adds a nice bubble to the the whole thing to finish it off.

 

Very Berry Sangria

Serves 12-16 people

Ingredients

  • 4 bottles of red wine
  • 1 pound of strawberries
  • 1 dry pint of blueberries
  • 1 dry pint of blackberries
  • 1 dry pint of raspberries
  • 1/4 cup agave, depending on the wine
  • 3 cups of tequila
  • 1 liter of seltzer, or ginger-ale

Process

  1. Divide the 4 bottles of wine into 2-3 pitchers, depending on the size of pitcher. Fill the pitcher about half way full.
  2. Wash all the fruit. Discard an bruised fruit.
  3. Slice the strawberries.
  4. Add all the fruit to the wine, divide evenly.
  5. Add the agave and tequila. Gently mix the wine to incorporate.
  6. Let chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
  7. Right before serving add the seltzer to the pitchers.

Mixed Berry Jam

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Canning Adventure that Emily and I had. Fruit was smashed, pounds of sugar was used, some lots of wine was consumed, and jam was made. Oh, how can I forget about that small kitchen fire? That alone is why Price tends to run away when the 2 of us are together. 

This was a major refresher in math skills. The original recipe called for 1 single fruit in quarts. Well we had to make it difficult by using 2 fruits in various containers. This involved looking for conversion tables online as well as harassing Price and his friend Chris for confirmation that we did it correction. Conclusion… “math is hard”

Prior to canning, I got 2 books that I found really helpful. We used Better Home and Garden’s You Can Can for this first canning adventure. It is a step-by-step book that really breaks down the canning and preserving process using photographs, tables, and clear instrcutions. I REALLY suggest this book for first time canners because it explains the process and the reasoning behind various things. For example, when to use boiling-water canning vs pressure canning. Hint: it has to do with the pH level of the food. This book, and the wine we consumed, made canning really fun.

Not to toot our horns too loudly, but this jam was pretty damn amazing. The texture was even with crushed fruit, while still having some rather large pieces of blackberries. Getting a spoonful with a large blackberry in there to spread over some toast was amazing. The combination of fruit works really well together- raspberries add a bit of a tangy bit that holds itself against the rich blackberry, which the blueberries mellow that flavor out a bit. It is a rather sweet jam so you could cut that with a bit of lemon juice (2 tablespoons added to the fruit prior to processing).

Mixed Berry Jam

Prep Time: 35 Minutes Process: 5 Minutes Makes: 8/9 Half Pint Jars

1 pint of blueberries
3 6oz packages of raspberries
3 6oz packages of blackberries
7 cups of sugar
1 1.75 packet of pectin

Wash and clean all fruit.

Combine the blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. In a LARGE pot, add 1 cup at a time, smash* the fruit together. Continue until all fruit is smashed. Stir in the pectin.

Heat over a High heat, stir constantly, until the mixture is at a rolling boil. Add the sugar all at once. Return to a rolling boil; boil for 1 minute, stir constantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam with a metal spoon.

Immediately ladle jam into hot, sterlized janning cars. Leave 1/4″ inch headspace. Wipe jar rims, place lid on jar and screw on bands (so they are secure but not too tight).

Process jars using the boiling-water method for 5 minutes (start timing when the water returns to a boil). Remove jars and cool on a wire rack, just not directly on your counter.

*A potato masher works well. Or improvise, like we did.