Black Raspberry Pie

Oh, ...the BEAUTY and DELICIOUSNESS!

Look what my sister Bessie brought us today...

F-r-e-s-h-l-y picked black raspberries!   

They are SO sweet and tasty.  

(At the bottom of this particular posting, 

I'll let you know where these berries came from.)

We would have had NO problem eating all 

 three quarts of berries just as they were...
or putting some over ice cream, on cereal, or in...!

But,...my mind was also 'seeing/tasting' a pie.   
Like this...

Some recipes called for as much as 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar for the amount of berries I used.   Because I wanted a fruity pie taste vs. a sweet jam taste, I used less. 

INGREDIENTS:  

• 1 recipe for double pie crust.  (My 'favorite' recipe for this can be found in my "LABELS" listing under Pie Crust.)  

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• 5 cups black raspberries
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup corn starch, sifted
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted (optional).
• A very VERY light sprinkle of salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and sifted corn starch.  
2. Pour sugar mixture over berries, stir gently to coat.
3. Drizzle the melted butter over the sugar coated berries, gently stir.
4. Prepare the crust(s).
5. Put one crust in the bottom of a pie dish.
6. Pour berries into crust.
7. Very lightly sprinkle salt over top of berries.
8. Lay top crust over berries and crimp edges of crust.  Just before putting pie into the oven, I put a thin strip  of aluminum foil over/around the top edge of the pie dish to keep the edges of the crust from getting too brown before the pie is done.
9. I baked this a in pre-heated oven at 425 for 15 minutes.  Then, reduced  heat to 350 and baked for another 45 minutes.   This is how it worked out for my oven-- use same directions OR modify for yours.

Here, give this a taste-test!
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Less than one hour after baking,...

Thank you, Bessie, for the berries!


These raspberries were picked at the U-pick or 'We-pick'  farm of:
Don & Mary Bratz, Owners
16162 Grupe Lane
Birnamwood, WI 
(715) 449-3962
(715) 551-4715
"Raspberries-- picking starting mid-July.  
Call ahead for availability."

Elegant Broccoli Salad

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large clump of banded together broccoli, trimmed to bite-sized florets
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped into 1/4" pieces
• 4 green onions, chopped into 1/4" pieces
• 1 cup yellow raisins
• 2 cups red seedless grapes, whole or halved if large
• 1/2 lb. cheddar cheese, large shredded or cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1 cup almonds, slivered or sliced

• 1/2 lb. lean bacon, fried to crispy and then crumbled.

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Thoroughly wash broccoli, celery and onions.  Prepare them as directed above.  Put all in a mixing bowl-- add raisins and washed grapes.
2. Add FRIED/CRISPY bacon pieces, almonds and prepared cheese.  Toss to combine. Set this combination aside while you prepare the dressing as follows.
3. In a separate container, combine the mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar.    Stir this until you can tell by the 'grain-i-ness' that the sugar is dissolving.
4. Pour over veggie mix, and stir to coat.  Cover tightly and chill for a few hours before serving.

Fruity Fruit Salad

Whether you make it 'tropical' or 'traditional', this is an easy/quick fruity fruit salad.*  

You could make this by using your own favorite 'go together' fruits!

The pecan halves give this a bit (bite?) of occasional 'crunch'!

Mix together:
1 of 15 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained
1 of 20 oz. can Pineapple tidbits or chunks, drained
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup shredded or flake coconut (optional)
1 cup green OR red seedless grapes, halved. 
1 cup pecan halves


Beat together the next two ingredients, and put over fruit mixture:
1 cup sour cream
1 of 8 oz. cream cheese


*VARIATION for the creamy 'sauce':
Some choose to use a mixture of prepared vanilla instant pudding (using 1/2 cup less milk than called for) and smoothly beaten cream cheese over the fruit.


  Chill.  Serve.