Berry Slab Pie

And now for dessert...Blackberry Slab Pie! Click on the photos to enlarge and to active salivary glands.

I could not have chosen an easier recipe to try out for dessert. Pinterest really needs to start paying me for mentioning their website in every blog entry I write. Yet again is another recipe I found while cruising around their site. This one was linked to http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/02/18/the-easiest-blackberry-slab-pie-ever/. I didn't adapt this one at all, except to say that I didn't measure the fruit or the sanding sugar. I just tossed in a container of blackberries and all the clean blueberries I had in a bowl.

I cannot stress how fast and easy this was to make and the outcome is really impressive. It must be served with vanilla ice cream. It is the perfect summer dessert, minus turning on the oven in the middle of summer.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh blackberries, blueberries, or a mixture of both
1 prepared round of pie dough, thawed
1 egg white
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sparkling sugar

Directions:

1. Place the round of pie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet.

2. Wash and dry the berries, then place them in a heap right in the center of your pie dough.

3. Carefully fold the edges of the pie dough around the berries, pinching it together to keep the edges in place.

4. Melt the butter and drizzle half of it over the berries.

5. Whisk the egg white into the remaining bit of butter. With a basting brush, spread the butter/egg mixture all over the edges of the pie crust, then sprinkle with sparkling sugar.

Bake in an oven preheated to 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve piping hot with giant scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Peach and Blackerry Picking @ Great Country Farms

The family and I went to Bluemont, VA to go peach and blackberry picking. Blackberries are one of my favorite fruits and at Great Country Farm they grow their blackberries without any pesticides. It was a hot and sunny day. I had never seen so many peaches in my whole life! After taking a wagon ride out to the peach trees, we were told that yellow peaches were in row 3 and white peaches were in rows 5 & 6. You'd be surprised how many people went into aisles that were not ready to be harvested. Great Country Farm should label the rows, give a warning about the incredible amount of bees and remind children not to climb the trees.

After picking through our stash of peaches, we chose the best eight to take home. Some were firm, others were softer. They all tasted delicious! But before heading home to eat our peaches I had to stop and get some blackberries. I never knew that blackberries were red until ripe.

I walked down three picked-over rows of blackberries. I was melting in the sun and getting more disappointed every few feet I walked. I couldn't find any blackberries. Someone had mentioned that there was another blackberry field somewhere on the other side of the pond. I had no idea where it was, so I picked what I could and walked back to find my hot and dehydrated family.


After returning to the little country store to pay for my U-Picks, some people came up behind my with a whole flat of beautiful, ripe, huge blackberries! I was jealous and had to ask them where they picked them, as I showed them my under-ripe half-full pint container. "On the other side of the pond", they replied. What?! Where was this hidden gem of a field? They told me it was quite a hike and offered to let me top off my container with their over abundance of berries. I was so happy and touched by their kindness. Next year, I'll hike to the "other field", if I can find it!