anna bakes - 4th of july pie

For the fouth of July this year, I decided to bake a red, white, and blue American flag pie. Check out my inspiration via Woman's Day magazine here. 

Here's my pie:

And here's how I did it:

Step 1: Make your pie dough. Refrigerate. 

I used Ina Garten's Perfect Pie Crust recipe with a 9in pie plate, which left enough extra dough to make a crostata the next day.

Pre-heat the oven to 400F.

Step 2: Assemble your fruit, keeping the blue fruit separate (this will make up the stars part of your pie flag).

I used 4 peaches (white), 1 carton of raspberries and 1 carton of strawberries (red), and 1 carton of blueberries (blue). I also used the zest of one orange to flavor the fruit. 

Step 3: Wash, cut, and combine your fruit with granulated white sugar, lemon juice, and orange zest. 

I used 1/4 cup sugar for the blueberries, which were on the sour side, and 1/2 cup sugar for the rest of the fruit. Set aside. 

Step 4: Roll out one half of your dough until it is pretty thin (you will almost be able to see through it).

Step 5: Arrange the dough in the 9in pie plate. Refrigerate.

Step 6: Roll out the other half of the dough and cut into stars and stripes. 

Step 7: Assemble the pie. 

Step 8: Bake at 400F for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350F and cook for another 40 minutes. 

Step 9: Enjoy!

anna cooks - summer fruit crostata

Sunday night I got inspired to make a summery dessert. I flipped through some of my cook books and settled on Ina Garten's Summer Fruit Crostata. The recipe originally comes from the restaurant Al Forno in Providence, RI, which has THE BEST desserts. (Al Forno was recently named one of the Best Italian Restaurants in the U.S. by Travel and Leisure Magazine.) Ina tweaked their recipe a bit to make the crostata using summer fruit rather than apples.

Here is a picture by Sohini R. via Yelp of an Al Forno made to order pear and walnut tart:

I made the crust a few hours before dinner. I don't know why I get intimidated by pie crusts, because they really are very easy. I didn't even use a food processor, but instead cut the butter into the flour mixture using two knives. I just hate getting the mixer dirty when I don't have to!

The crust turned out nice and flaky, and the mixture of summer fruits Ina recommends (black plums, peaches, and blueberries) was delicious. I will definitely make this again.

baking, etc. - anniversary pie

Yesterday was my parents' 29th wedding anniversary. My mom made a pie to celebrate. She is a master pie maker. Photo credit goes to Dad Devine.

As I mentioned in my last post, it is almost September but there is still lots of summer food I need to make! I have been meaning to bake a pie since I got this light blue bird pie funnel from Sur La Table for christmas.

Perhaps this peach and raspberry pie recipe from Saveur Magazine is in my future...

Do you have any favorite summer pie recipes?