Nannie's Blueberry Pie

My grandmother Nannie is a very talented baker. She sells her pies and pound cakes every week in Mississippi and always has something amazing for us to try when we visit. There's sure to be a lemon-glazed, faintly coconut-flavored pound cake waiting in the Tupperware carrier on top of the fridge, and also, a surprise so she can tell the story of the new recipe and ask for our feedback.

Eating this blueberry pie has been as natural to my family as breathing. It's not super-sweet, it stains everything in sight, and it must be served cold. Nannie hand-writes recipes for me in her beautiful cursive, and I have saved them all. She would shake her head and be pretty exasperated if she knew I used a little less sugar and added a few more blueberries in my version, but everything else is exactly the same.

Nannie's Blueberry Pie

Filling:

3 cups blueberries

3/4 cup cane sugar (+ one tbsp.)

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup AP flour

1 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Rinse berries and set out to dry. Sift the flour over the berries and add sugar, salt and lemon juice. Mix gently. Use this to fill an 8-inch pie crust. Dot the blueberry mixture with small, cut-up squares of butter before adding the top crust. (It helps to loosely wind each crust around a rolling pin and then they'll unroll/drape easily into the pie pan.) Fold the edges of the top crust under the bottom crust and crimp the edges using your knuckle. Cut at least 5 slits in the top crust and sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the top. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, and then lower the temp. to 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Let it cool and then refrigerate it 3 hours or overnight before cutting a slice, or it will be too runny.

Pie Crust:

(My grandmother assumes that everyone knows how to make a pie crust; it is not explained in her original recipe. I figured out that this pie uses this classic shortening crust that is sugared on top before baking. It's a classic recipe from my favorite cookbook.)