The Independence of Pie

My July 4th was all about pie. And seriously, what else do you need in a holiday? Fireworks, BBQ, spending time with family members, all of these are just ancillary to the main event: PIE.

First, as part of a lunchtime cook-out with my Mom, we made a cherry pie. It wasn't from scratch, she had bought a pie crust mix and cherry cobbler filling at Williams Sonoma....say, about a year ago. Hey, better late than never! We made the crust, Mom expertly rolled it out and fitted it into the pan and here was the end result:


From this angle, it looks like an angry pie. See the angry eyebrows, the messed up nose, and the frowny face. But while it looks unhappy, trust me, it was goooood.

The crust was a little thick, but my Mom loves her crust. The crust dough overshot the rim of the pie pan by a good 2 inches, but when I suggested that we trim it she shot me a withering look and replied, "we are not throwing away any of this crust." Ok, then Mom.

After the cherry pie, I headed over to Grandma's for the Riley Family's 5th Monthly Harry Potter night (all leading up to the sixth movie release in a few weeks) where Pie #2 awaited. After perusing Healthy Cooking magazine, I found a great low-fat, low-calorie recipe for a berry patch pie. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries (a super food!) cooked with some sugar and cornstarch and voila:


SO GOOD OMG. Sweet and tart and not bad for me and...effing amazing.

All in all, it was a very successful Fourth of July. We sort of forgot to watch the fireworks (we were right at the end of Order of the Phoenix!), and there wasn't any hanging out at the beach or other typical Independence Day activities, but each family has it's own traditions, right? Apparently mine likes to sit around watch movies (I had also watched 1776 with Mom earlier) and stuff ourselves with pie. And yes. You can come over next year and help us "celebrate".