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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

When Life Gives you Lemons(or Grapes)......

My husband loves pie! I don't really do the pie thing as the whole pie crust making is daunting...My sister-in-law and I took a pie making course many years ago and we walked away saying..."We aren't cut out to make pie!" My mother-in-law however IS cut out to make pie, great pie! Whenever she visits and asks what to bring I often ask her to bring a pie for her son!
My girl friend is in town...and her husband likes pie too! They were coming for dinner and so I thought I should make pie! I went down to the grocery store and used my coupon for Tenderflake pie crusts( My total was $1.47!) So, I didn't feel bad about skipping the homemade crust making! :)
Then I got out my America's Test Kitchen Baking book and found a lovely recipe for blueberry pie. It made a point of saying don't use frozen berries so I was feeling quite organized as I took out my big Ziploc of blueberries the night before.(Ever heard it said pride goes before a fall??)
The next day as I was about to rinse and drain them when I thought to myself, these blueberries aren't quite the right shape. The size was right, as the blueberry patch where we pick has huge berries, but it didn't have that little blossom thing on the bottom. On closer examination(I know....I should get my eyes tested soon) I realized my blueberries were GRAPES!
Well, what does one do when they are handed lemons grapes when you were thinking you were getting blueberries? Well, what I do is run to google! After a quick search I found this recipe for GRAPE PIE! Why do you care about grape pie when Concord Grapes aren't readily available??? I blog this for next summer when grapes are plentiful and I write this to say improvising is allowed....even a good idea! Don't let the naysayers in your life tell you otherwise!
I didn't follow the recipe exactly as our grapes have no seeds. So, I skipped the taking the skins off step. I also used an extra 1 1/2 cups of grapes. I did all the cooking(5-10 minutes) in the microwave.


There is a nice crumble for the top crust.

I baked it the whole time with the crumble on so it would brown nicely.

I made sure to make this way before supper so it could cool and set. It had a nice sweet and tart taste combination. I must say some people were skeptical about my grape pie...but in the end this is the last lonely piece!

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