Some people are cake people. Some people are pie people. You might be able to guess what I am. But every now and then I can go for a really good berry pie.

Last Wednesday I decided to be daring and make my own pie crust and at the same time, get rid of some of those blueberries we picked. We had stopped at Whole Foods earlier in the week and nabbed some peaches.

Peaches + blueberries = PIE!

There weren't enough peaches to follow recipes online for a blueberry-peach pie, so I had to improv and make up my own recipe.

It wasn't bad! I ended up eating it each morning when I came back from a run. We kept it in the fridge and it was a cool (and delicious!) treat after being out in the sun.

Blueberry Peach Pie

INGREDIENTS

2	pre-made pie crusts or make your own (I used the Perfect Pie Dough by Cook's Illustrated)
3	cups blueberries - washed
3	cups peaches - washed and sliced (about 4 peaches)
3/4	cups sugar
1	tspn cinnamon
1/8	tspn ginger
1/8	tspn coriander seed
	pinch of nutmeg
1.5	tablespoons cornstarch
2	tspn lemon juice
1	egg - lightly beaten

INSTRUCTIONS

1.	Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Have dough prepared ahead of time. Prepare 9" pie plate with one pie crust.
2.	Wash and cut fruit, and place into medium bowl.
3.	Add sugar, spices, cornstarch and lemon juice to bowl of fruit and mix to coat fruit evenly.
4.	Carefully pour fruit into prepared pie plate. Some people add a little bit of butter to the top of the fruit before covering, but I forgot here.
5.	Roll and place remaining pie crust on top of the pie. Cut four slits in pie crust (to vent) and brush the top of the pie crust with the lightly beaten egg white.
6.	Place pie on a cookie pan to catch any drips. Reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees and put pie and pan into oven for 25 minutes. A tip to prevent the crust from burning: I place tin foil around the edges and remove it after 25 minutes of baking.
7.	After 25 minutes, rotate the pie and reduce the temperature to 375 degrees. Bake for another 30-35 minutes. Your crust should be golden brown and the juices should be bubbling at this point and will be ready to come out.
8.	Place pie onto a wire rack to cool before serving. Suggested cooling time: 4 hours.

Blueberry Jammin'

I don't know about the weather where you're at, but it's been pretty cloudy and wet down here for a while. This morning is cloudy once more and the rain is off and on. The one good thing about days like these is that all I want to do is read.

I finished Cooked last night and loved it. The scientist in me loved reading about the science behind cooking and how things change on a molecular level. I am motivated more than ever to bake bread this summer using yeast I've cultured here rather than purchased at a store. It sounds like quite the experiment, and thankfully, Pollan included the directions in the back of the book.

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We did get a break from all of the cloudiness and rain on Saturday, and Tom and I took advantage of it by going blueberry picking.

I may enjoy strawberry picking, but I enjoy blueberry picking (and eating) MUCH more!

We headed back to Butler's Orchard to fill up our bucket, and picked 16 pounds worth. We were a little sad to find out that the berries there were lacking some serious flavor. Perhaps it was the species of berries that they grow? Every now and then we'll get a berry that actually tastes like a true blueberry, but most of the time they remind me of grocery-store quality taste.

Sixteen pounds of berries is quite a lot. Like, "wow - what was I thinking?" a lot. Just as with the strawberries, we're freezing a bunch for future muffins, smoothies, and yogurt. We are also finding ways to use as many fresh berries as we can.

Sunday morning began with blueberry pancakes and yesterday afternoon I made four jars of simple blueberry jam. You better believe there will be at least one blueberry pie coming soon!

I'm having too much fun with the jammin' (aka: jam making) this summer and love hearing the little "pop!" when the jars seal. I'd also love to get my hands on some raspberries to make three-berry jam.

Gender Reveal Cake

For weeks I anxiously awaited last Wednesday, the day that I would receive a sealed envelope from Tessa with the gender of her little baby. 

My assignment: to bake a cake that would reveal the gender of her baby once the cake was cut.

Oh. And to keep the gender a secret. From everyone! 

Tessa's request was to make it as natural as possible, without artificial dyes. To do this, she asked that if she was having a girl that the cake be made out of strawberries. If she was having a boy, the cake would be blueberry. 

Tessa added a bunting cake topper that she made herself. I fell in love with it!

It was so much fun to be part of this event and now I'm even more excited to meet the little man when he arrives this fall! Check out Tessa's blogpost for the party, found here.

Cake Order: Berry Birthday

I took on a cake order last week for a vanilla birthday cake with berries. 

It felt so amazing to be working with an icing bag and frosting again. We had been separated for too long!

It's no surprise that the berries had me reminiscing about berry picking in the summer, especially with the insanely warm temperatures that we have had this week. 

Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins

I have a confession to make. I secretly really love going to the dentist. Is it strange that I feel like falling asleep while the hygienist is working on my teeth?

Yes. It sure is. 

My dentist called me on Wednesday. They had an opening and asked if I could come in yesterday at 9:00. Sure! Why not. The only bad part about the experience was paying for the appointment. I'm without dental insurance this year because of school. Maybe I could go the year without going to the dentist, but I really don't want to mess up my teeth after years of braces and a herbst appliance.

Anyway....

On my way home I stopped at Hannaford to pick up some frozen blueberries. I had brown butter blueberry muffins on my mind all because of Joy the Baker's new cookbook that I got in the mail Wednesday. 

I've followed Joy's blog for almost two years so obviously the cookbook needed to be ordered. Her humor and style of writing comes out in each recipe. So does her love for baking.

This was my first time experimenting with brown butter but it won't be the last. I may have accidentally gotten some of the warm butter on my finger as I was mixing into the batter and it may have tasted really yummy.

The  muffins were good, but not the best I've ever had. That could have been my own doing (I wonder if frozen blueberries affect the taste, or perhaps I didn't cook them long enough). All I know is that I'm super excited to bake the other recipes in the book. 

And in case you were wondering, I am cavity free once again (*knockonwood*)

A HOBY Wedding

I'm at that age where everyone is getting married, and there's nothing better than seeing two best friends make a promise to spend their lives together.

This weekend Tom and I headed up to the Sleepy Hollow Inn in Huntington, VT for our friends' wedding. They've been together for 9 years and originally met at Vermont HOBY, a youth leadership conference for sophomores. It was clear how much this couple loved each other at the wedding, and there was no doubt that these two are perfect for each other.

They couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day (except maybe that it be 75 degrees instead of 85!). Tom was asked to read "A Lovely Love Story" during the ceremony, and I was asked to make the cake for them. I was so honored to be able to do so!

The cake was a three tier lemon cake with vanilla buttercream, and topped with Vermont-picked blueberries and raspberries. You really can't get any more delicious than that. I also made a vanilla sheet cake, frosted and decorated the same, that became a delicious midnight snack before we headed up to the bonfire. 

Congratulations Ben and Liz! Wishing you a lifetime of many happy memories!

CSA: Week 3 Recap

This last CSA week was loaded with fresh fruits and veggies and it didn't help that we decided to go berry picking on Sunday. We came home with 7 lbs of blueberries and a carton of raspberries. Yuuuummmmmm.

This week's CSA consisted of: mesclun greens, peas, baby pearl onions, Zucchini, garlic scapes, kale (I had never tried it before!), green tomatoes, red beets, and frozen squash puree. 

Thursday night we made homemade pizza with the onion and kale from our CSA. While the pizza was baking Tom was busy making a batch of mint-oreo ice cream to enjoy while watching Harry Potter. We've been having a marathon over the last few weeks in order to get ready for the last movie. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to watch the 6th and part one of the 7th, so we won't be at the midnight showing tonight. 

Licking the ice cream maker's bowl clean!

As I mentioned in my last post, we used many of our veggies in our Thanksgiving feast. Sunday, after our berry picking, Tom cooked up a batch of Greek salad, with turkey of course! We also got to use up some parsley and cherry tomatoes. 

Tuesday night came and so did the weekly scramble-to-use-up-our-veggies-before-the-next-delivery-meal. I roasted my second batch of beets, and sauteed the kale and summer squash with the onion and scapes. 

This week's CSA is very exciting, and includes basil and heirloom tomatoes! 

Now some questions for the readers....

1. Since we don't have a garden I'm curious about yours. How is it doing? Have you been able to harvest anything yet?

2. Is anyone heading to see Harry this weekend? I doubt we'll get the chance as we're heading to a wedding - but next weekend! I'm excited to see it but I'm pretty sure I'm going to cry when it's over. It's been great  growing up with Harry. 

Lemon Bridal Shower Cake

Today I helped host a bridal shower for a dear friend of mine, Kat (you can check out her blog here). I've known her since 5th grade and we even visited each other in Spain when we were studying abroad our junior years. This summer she's marrying her high school sweetheart - which is just about the cutest thing ever.

The party was a lot of fun! Who doesn't enjoy making toilet paper wedding dresses, finding out what crazy things other women carry in their purses, and watching the bride shove piece after piece of Bubblelicous into her mouth as she tries to answer questions about her soon-to-be husband (I wish I had brought my camera for this!)

Do you know how difficult it is for women to not cross their legs when they sit or stand? We each had a clothespin and if someone caught you crossing your legs they got to take it from you. The key was to be the one with all the clothespins. I made it maybe half an hour before I fell victim to the habit.

I made the cake for the shower and decided to try a new lemon cake recipe. According to her mom, Kat likes light cakes with berries. Well, the recipe sounded perfect! I have to admit that I was worried about the cake throughout the whole party. This morning it was waaaay too lemony, but by this afternoon the flavor had lessened.  I frosted it with a lemon buttercream and topped it with blueberries and strawberries.