Adventures in Eating: Fresh Raspberry Pie

When people think of summer, they dream of long days at the beach, evening barbeques, chil­dren catching fireflies and the fourth of July fireworks. It’s a special time to relax and enjoy life to its fullest with family and friends.

For a cook, summer conjures up some images most people might not think about: Red ripe toma­toes, sweet aromatic basil, tangy plump peaches and juicy berries of all kinds. During the summer mar­kets are bursting with fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs. It’s a time of year when cooking and eating are made even more fun due to the variety of foods in season.

So break out your cookbooks, put on your aprons and start taking advantage of everything summer has to offer. You can start with this fabulous fresh raspberry pie. You won’t find it better in the pie shops!

FRESH RASPBERRY PIE
For one 9″ pie serving 10-12

Ingredients:

Crust

2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shortening
2 tbs butter
4 tbs water

Filling

4 heaping cups fresh raspberries
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tbs butter cut into small pieces

Sift together flour and salt, cut in shortening and butter until small granules form, add water and mix gently until mixture forms a ball. Chill for at least 15 minutes.

Roll out half of the pie dough to fit a 9″ pie dish. Crimp edges. Refrigerate while making fill­ing. Rinse berries quickly and dry. Mix berries with sugar and flour. Spoon into crust. Top with butter.

Roll out remaining pie dough. Cut into 1/2″ strips over the pie. Press into crimped edges. Bake pie at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes or until crust is lightly brown and filling is bubbling.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.