My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer (11 page)

TO MAKE THE CRUST:

Cut butter into flour and salt until pieces are marble-size. Carefully add water, mixing until dough is moist but not wet (when the butter warms up, the dough gets soft). Divide into two balls. Roll one between two sheets of wax paper. Peel away one sheet and press dough into bottom of pie plate. Leave top wax paper on and put the second ball and pie plate in the refrigerator while mixing the filling (you don't want the butter in the dough getting too warm).

 

TO MAKE THE FILLING:

Pour all the berries in a bowl. Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a measuring cup, then pour over fruit. Mix gently, add the lemon juice, and mix gently again.

Take out the pie dish, remove the wax paper, and pour the filling into the pie crust. Dot with butter. Roll out top crust and cover the pie. Poke holes in the top. Then, using two fingers and one thumb, pinch a fluted edge to seal pie. Line edges with tin foil to reduce burning, but remove the tin foil in the last 10 minutes of baking.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes. Pie is ready when juice bubbles through the holes (so don't go swimming and forget about your pie!).

I'm so grateful to the people at Vermont College of Fine Arts, a magical place for book lovers and writers. A special thank-you to the WONTONS and Poetry Farmers for nurturing creativity and laughter during the mad early-parenting years. I'm also grateful to my agent, Alison Picard, for believing in the book, and my editor, Christine Krones, for loving it. And to John Schlag—thanks for everything.