Blueberry Picking

Blueberry Picking 

This is the First year Ralph and I have been Blueberry Picking. I can’t believe I have never done this before. We went a few weeks ago and we picked a TON of blueberry’s 6 pounds in fact! The weather hasn’t been that great so we headed their early, it’s a good thing we did. 

  After we spent the morning picking Blue Berries we went over to the Farm House and bought some Homemade Apple Cider Donuts, YUM! Went over to say hello to the goats…I was sad for them, a few had these big heavy chain links around their necks (why do they do this, I will have to goggle the reasoning behind that!) Took a few pictures…Then…Torrential. Down Pours!

We headed home, thankful to have picked our Blueberries rain free. That night I made our first ever Blueberry Pie…It was really good, and I don’t really like pie (other than apple!) The rest of the week we had blueberry smoothies, blueberry pancakes, frozen yogurt blueberries and just plain blueberries, which I’m not really a fan of. 

Blueberry Picking will now be a yearly event, to add with pumpkin, apple, strawberry, green bean and Raspberry picking!! 

Here's a delicious recipe I used for our Pie that I found online... 

Ingredients:

Crust: I bought at the store, easy! 

Filling ingredients:

• 6 cups (about 2 1/4 pounds or 1 kilo) of fresh (or frozen) blueberries, rinsed and stems removed (if using frozen, defrost and drain first)
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup (about 30g) all-purpose flour (for thickening)
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar (100g)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp butter (unsalted), cut into small pieces

Egg wash ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk

Method

1 Prepare the crust. Roll out half of the dough to 1/8-inch-thick circle on a lightly floured work surface, about 13 inches in diameter. Fit the dough over a 9-inch pie pan, and trim the edges to a 1/2 inch over the edge all around the pan. Put into the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.

2 Gently mix the blueberries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Transfer them to the chilled bottom crust of the pie pan. Dot with butter pieces. Roll out remaining dough to the same size and thickness as the first. Place on top of the berry filling. Tuck the top dough over and under the edge of the bottom dough, and crimp the edges with your fingers. Transfer the pie to the refrigerator to chill until the dough is firm, about 30 minutes. Heat oven to 425°F.

3 Whisk egg and milk together to make an egg wash.

4 Remove the unbaked pie from refrigerator. Brush the top with egg wash. Score the pie on the top with 4 cuts (so steam can escape while cooking). Place the pie on the middle rack of the oven with a parchment paper or Silpat lined baking pan positioned on the lower rack to catch any filling that may bubble over. Bake for 20 minutes at 425°. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake for 30 to 40 minutes more or until juices are bubbling and have thickened. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let cool completely before serving.

                                       ENJOY!