For July, I made Blueberry Pie, and I used the buttery flour crust recipe I used for my May Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and my June Razzleberry Pie. My go to recipe from my mother is for a lard crust – it’s delicious, light, and flaky, but I really like this healthier recipe I found online. The crust mixture combined easily and after being refrigerated, the dough rolled out easily. Little confession – I still can’t find my rolling pin (my kitchen is tiny, so I have items I don’t use daily stored in other locations), so to avoid wasting time locating it, I again improvised by using a plastic bottle. Trust me - if you can roll dough easily with a plastic bottle, it’s great dough! The crust is flaky and delicious, and this is now my go-to recipe for flour crust.

Homemade Buttery Flaky Pie Crust – here is the link to Sally's Baking Addiction:

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/baking-basics-homemade-buttery-flaky-pie-crust/

Here is the link to the recipe for the Blueberry Pie I made for this month:

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/best-blueberry-pie/

I was able to find fresh blueberries, and my filling went together easily. There’s no need to cook anything before combining, so this recipe is super quick to make.

I made a variation on the lattice crust. I saw a picture of a pie on this website with stars for the crust and I saw a rectangular blueberry cobbler made with a stars and stripes crust. I decided to use the stars and stripes for my round pie. I dug out my star shaped cookie cutters and once I selected the sizes I set to work. I cut the leftover pie crust into strips for the stripes and arranged them on the pie to look like the flag was blowing in the wind. I was pretty - pleased with my efforts. Midway through baking I covered the edges of the crust with foil to prevent them from burning.

The cooled pie was very juicy, but after sitting in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, it was perfect. The crust wasn’t soggy, and the pie was not only beautiful, it was delicious. The website had a few suggestions on how to minimize the juiciness, and I’ll be sure to give them a try.

We tried servings of the pie plain, with whipped cream topping and with vanilla ice cream. Honestly, there’s no wrong way to serve this pie. I can’t say enough positive things about Sally’s Baking Addiction. The website is easy to navigate. The recipes are delicious, and I haven’t needed to shop for any impossible to find or super expensive ingredients.

Next month I’ll be making Peach Pie.

Send your recipes and original photos to Fran at This Awful Awesome Life. My email is fran.thisawfulawesomelife@gmail.com. On the subject heading of your email, please include your name and Pie of the month: ex. Pat Jones - April: French Silk Pie. You can send them a month before the feature month or during the month and I’ll feature them in the next month’s issue. The sooner the better. If you love to bake, you can contribute each month. In December, we will select one lucky baker who will receive a gift from Pampered Chef.