Lattice-Topped Blueberry Pie

I'm normally the crazy person, the only one in my family willing to stand in summer's hot heat in open fields crouched over berry plants, or drag myself through the thorny bushes of my beloved blackberries and raspberries.  I can stand the occasional surprise stink bug attack or spider scare, for the money saving tactics employed at a u-pick.  I was well intentioned and did my duty during strawberry season, dragging Shane along once and  going by myself, for somewhere close to 25lbs of strawberries.  I hulled, washed and froze them, bagged them and labeled them, by myself.  I did the same with the raspberries, except without any help.  But I hit my limit.  In years past I've seen just how many of my berries get eaten by the people who don't do the work and I decided enough is enough, I won't be doing blueberries.  They're Shane's favourite berry you see, the one he eats frozen all. year. long.  I told him if he wanted them for his freezer stash this year, he better get picking, I wouldn't be going.  Though I did agree to wash and freeze them.  He declined.  He won't have berries.  And I better not see him eat my stash of darling raspberries, or I might have it kick his butt.

So from the store I bought a few pounds of berries to make into our favourite treats.  First on the list was pie, naturally.  There are four blueberry pie recipe in the book, this was the only one for which I had all the ingredients on hand.  And what luck!  It tasted like heaven on earth!  Seriously, beautiful bright flavours, a perfect blueberry pie consistency (not too thick or too runny).  The crust was dynamite, standing up wonderfully to the filling, crispy and light.  It was the best blueberry pie, and I'm not kidding.  I brought most of it to work and at the end of the night one of my residents broke into the kitchen and slathered it all over a chocolate chip cookies (using a ten of hearts playing card as a spoon).  He thought it was delicious too, he told me so himself...sort of.


Baking notes:
-Like the saying 'easy as pie', it really kinda was.  The process was smooth and incident free.  There was no really long cooling periods, and the baking time was perfect.
-The pie crust came together easily, the shortening kept the pie crust very tender.
-The filling is cooked in advance while the pie crust chills in the fridge for twenty minutes.
-The crust rolled out easily, but the lattice crust was hard to layer with the hot filling making the dough very soft.
-I know it's not the most beautiful pie, but for me it's a show stopper, I'm quite bad at them.
-As you can see my lattice crust sort of disappeared, I don't really know what to do about this.

The recipe for Lattice-Topped Blueberry Pie is not available online. (boo!)

25/569

Vanilla Shortbread Cookies

Have you been watching the Olympics?  I've seen snippets here and there, when its on the tv at work.  It's fun to glance into another reality like this every once and a while, where all the drama in the world comes to a standstill and we just play sport.  I'd get bored though, watching too much of it and I'd eat an awful lot of cookies sitting on the couch.  But I'd like to hand a prize to each an every loser, a sort of consolation prize if you will, a cookie.  Maybe not these cookies, I know I've got better cookies in my repertoire.  Like my chocolate chip cookies, or maybe my chocolate gingerbread cookies for the winter Olympics.  Nothing helps the hurt go down like sugar, or maybe that's just me.

These cookies are okay, though I find them quite tough for a supposedly tender shortbread.  I was very careful not to over mix them, I wanted that butter-y crumbly traditional shortbread.  But alas it was not.  Instead the cookies have a bit of chew to them.  They are very buttery, and if I had used the fancy butter it called for, the results would have been even better.  So in the end, if I wanted shortbread cookies again, I'd find another recipe.

Baking notes:
-The cookies were very easy to put together.  They came together beautifully.
-I used regular (if not crappy) butter and the taste was marvelous, I can only imagine how much better it would be with a fancy european butter.
-I'm sad that I can never keep the wonderful round shape of the log when cutting rolled cookies, they turned into a lumpy circle.

You can find the recipe for vanilla shortbread cookies on the epicurious website.

24/569

Grilled Peaches with Fresh Raspberry Sauce

Sorry about the awful picture! Indoor night lighting = crap.

We ate this dessert with Shane's parents after dinner one rather stormy summer night.  We had jerk chicken, coleslaw and that yummy August corn that is so prolific 'round these parts.  Dinner was delicious and after we all ate our fill we added this light dessert to the mix.  Shane grilled the peaches on the charcoal bbq, which added more flavour than I thought possible.  But that bbq adds more flavour to everything!  It was sweet, fresh and bright.  While I wouldn't make it again, it's just not my kind of dessert, we really did enjoy it.  We served the peaches with a sweetened creme fraiche and a vanilla shortbread cookie.  It was delicious.

Baking notes:

-I used frozen raspberries thawed quickly in the microwave.  

-Instead of water and sugar added separately to the raspberries, which would give the sauce a grainy sugar texture, I added a simple syrup. (Equal parts sugar and water, heated to dissolve the sugar.)  I thought this was much better.

The recipe for Grilled Peaches with Fresh Raspberry Sauce can be found on the epicurious website.

23/569

Individual Plum Cobblers with Hazelnut Topping

This recipe is the first I actually, genuinely, did not like.  To the point that I didn't eat it!  There were several things I found unappetizing. Firstly, the plums got way to thick and gummy, and they tasted bitter oddly.  The biscuit topping was dry and sandy textured.  Together I was totally unimpressed.  I'm not sure if it was even my fault.  I did make a half batch, and substituted cornstarch for tapioca, which I suppose could thicken a little stronger.  I also used an odd shape ramekin, which would have altered the baking time.  The biscuits were just plain bad, and I was sure not to over mix them.  All and all it was a total fail. Boo!

Baking notes:
-As stated I halved the recipe, changed the size of the baking dish, and substituted cornstarch for tapioca.
-I also omitted the cinnamon and added a touch of ginger powder.

The recipe for plum cobblers with hazelnut topping can be found on the epicurious website.

22/569

Almond, Lemon and Anise Biscotti with Chocolate

It all started innocently enough.  All I needed to do was cut the lawn.  I loaded the lawnmower into my trunk for it's weekly trip through town, from it's home in my mom's shed to my house.  It's a heavy thing and I managed to wrangle it both in and out of my trunk alone.  I pressed the cold start button the requisite ten times, as instructed and pulled the cord.  Nothing.  Over and over again.  Nothing.  I swore.  I pushed the button ten more times, still nothing.  Ten more times just for good measure, what does this thing do anyways?  I kicked it once or twice.

Gas started dripping, from where I wasn't sure, down into the well that protects the blades.  Faster and faster it dripped, pretty soon it was a stream.  Shane woke from his all-to-short sleep.  He told me what I did wrong.  You flooded the engine you turd.  The gas ended up on the grass.  Bad Alyssa, bad.

The next day we looked into the gas chamber.  Bone dry.  We added a little gas, it turned on! And then it died.  Again and again.  It wasn't going to work.  Plan B, borrow Bill's.  I walked over to our neighbor's house and asked to borrow his lawnmower, citing an unruly lawn as our excuse to using it immediately.  I promised cookies as I always do.  These are what I made.  

Every time I make biscotti I'm reminded how much I like them.  And while I've liked every type I've made in the past, I'd say this is the best yet.  100%.  After I gave Bill his allotment I gave my sister a bag and brought the rest to work.  They went over so well I was asked if they could be purchased!  The biscotti are very well balanced.  Almond and chocolate are the main flavours, with a subtle note of anise and a bright pop of lemon.  Perfect I'm telling you, perfect.

Baking notes:

-The cookies are very easy to make and come together in no time at all.

-I forgot to reduce the oven temperature to 300 for the second baking and nothing went wrong.  

-I didn't understand the cocoa powder brushed on at the end.  I feel like all it did was make the chocolate look dull.  Maybe I'm wrong?  Next time I'll skip that step.

-If you taste the batter raw it'll taste heavily of anise, don't worry, it mellows out.

The recipe for Almond, Lemon and Anise Biscotti with Chocolate is not available online, for some reason unbenounced to me.

21/569

Sour Cream Tart with Santa Rosa Plum Compote

 
You had me at Santa Rosa plum, my favourite variety.  You had Shane at sour cream, one of his favourite things period.  This tart was made to follow a very heavy gut-busting bbq dinner we had with friends.  Surprisingly, it was much lighter than I thought it would be.  The tart itself was nutty and crisp and the filling light, creamy and slightly sweet.  This contrasted with a tart cinnamon and vanilla spiced plum compote.  Together there was magic.

 Baking notes:
-Don't be turned off by the sour cream in the title, it lightens the filling and totally belongs with the plums.
-The tart crust was very easy to throw together and didn't shrink at all.  Love!
-The plum compote was a little fall-inspired, but I didn't mind too much.

The recipe for Sour Cream Tart with Santa Rosa Plum Compote is on the epicurious website.

20/569