The Lover's Baedeker (And Pie)

Posted today on Project Gutenberg, and full of lover-like Edwardian poems and images.

If I were more industrious I would have a matching Valentine’s menu to put up, but today’s dinner is going to be stuff he likes, which precludes anything fancy; pork chops, baked sweet potatoes, corn, and blueberry pie (if I get ambitious I'll make biscuits).

My recipe for blueberry pie, which is based on the one in Cook's magazine but without the Granny Smith, is pretty darn good and eliminates the usual blueberry pie hazard of runny filling.

 Line a pie plate with pastry. Take half the blueberries (I use a total of three cups for a deep-dish pie which is skimpy but doesn’t run out all over the oven floor) and put them in a microwave-proof container with half a stick of butter, a pinch of salt, and 1/3 of a cup of sugar.  Cook them until they are mushy, about eight minutes for frozen berries.

Mash them with a potato masher and stir in three tablespoons of Minute™ tapioca.  The berries will be a tad lumpy.  Allow to cool until thick, about twenty minutes.  Rinse the uncooked berries, shake them dry, and put them in the pie dish.  Pour the cooked berries around them and if you are married to someone with a sweet-tooth, sprinkle another ¼ of a cup of sugar over the berry mixture.  Cover with the other half of the pastry, crimp the edges, and stab the top two or three times with a sharp knife.

Protect the edges of the pie from over-browning with strips of aluminum foil.  Bake at 450⁰ for 20 minutes and then reduce to 350⁰.  Bake another 15 minutes and remove the aluminum foil strips.  Bake for another 15 minutes or until the top crust looks done.  Remove from the oven and cool completely.

If you feel up to washing the blender, you could puree the berries instead of using the potato masher.