Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

Submitted by CaptBubba

My family does not understand moderation when it comes to planting things in our garden. So somewhere along the line the following logic happened: Why have one blueberry bush when we can have seven?

That's from a year ago, there are more to the left of the frame and the bushes are bigger every year (over eight feet tall now). There are kiwi vines behind the blueberry bushes. Why do we have kiwis when we live in SC?

So we make a bunch of things with blueberries, and somehow my mom found this great recipe for a fresh blueberry pie. It isn't tough to make, but it does use a ton of blueberries. I went to a you-pick blueberry place yesterday, and remembered this recipie, so I thought I'd give it a shot. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this (taking photos of cooking with a writeup) so it may suck, but suggestions would be appreciated.

(note: I'm making two pies, so I'm doubling the ingredients in the pictures. Don't be confused if you end up with half as much stuff as I have.)

Ingredients:

• 1 3-ounze package cream cheese
• 1 9-inch pie crust
• 4 cups fresh blueberries. Either pick them yourself at a you-pick place or pick them up from a roadside stand.
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Method:

• First bake the pie crusts (either homemade or from the store) in the oven at 375 for 5-10 minutes. You want to harden them up.

• While the crusts are hardening, put the cream cheese package over the oven vent or some warm area to help it soften. Go ahead and wash your blueberries in the sink, getting rid of any that are over or under ripe. I personally like to leave in a few of the not quite entirely ripe ones, as it makes the pie taste a bit more tart. Put the berries in a bowl lined with paper towels and take the crusts out and put them in the fridge to cool.

• At this point go ahead and mix your sugar and cornstarch together in a small bowl. Also juice your lemon and measure out the two tablespoons you need. Finally, get 1/2 cup of water ready. You can still see my cream cheese softening in the upper right hand corner. The softer the better. After all that, the crusts should be nice and cool.

• Now comes the fun part. Take your soft cream cheese and plop it in the center of the pie crust.

• Take your finger and spread the cream cheese all over the pie crust. Every year I try to use a spoon and just muck everything up, so don't bother. Try to be gentle and not to tear the crust, but if you do, just patch over it with some cheese. The idea is to make a sort of bowl out of the crust, so liquid cannot seep easily into the dry crust.

• Now take 3 cups of your blueberries and pour them into the pie crust. Set the pie to the side and get out a saucepan.

• Add your remaining cup of blueberries and 1/2 cup of water. Bring just to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for two minutes. Keep a gentle stirring motion going while the berries are on the stove. Remove from heat after the two minutes are up.

• Strain out the pulp and keep the liquid. Watch out with this stuff, it will stain things it comes into contact with. If you drip any on the countertop or onto your clothes, wipe it up quickly. Toss the pulp, put the liquid back into the saucepan, and put it over low heat.

• Roll up your sleeve because this next part is tough. Start stirring like crazy (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND using a whisk for this part) and slowly add your sugar/starch. Keep stirring madly for 10 minutes. You want the liquid to thicken as well as get a shine. In addition, the liquid should clear up; it will still be red, but it will not be a milky color anymore. If it gets too thick before it gets clear and shiny, add a touch of water and keep stirring.

• After the ten minutes, you will end up with syrup with a layer of pink foam covering it. The liquid underneath the foam will be a shiny red/purple. Mix in the lemon juice. Cut the heat off and get your pie into a stable place.

• Pour the glaze over the fresh blueberries. Just slowly pour it over, trying to cover as much as you can, until the pie crust is filled up. You will likely have too much glaze, but that is expected.

• After all that work you finally have: PIE!

• Put it in the fridge for a few hours (overnight preferred) to let the glaze set up, and then enjoy!