Award Winning Blackberry Apple Pie

A little over a year ago my Aunt Jennifer told my sister and I to choose a cookbook off her shelf. The cookbooks had originally belonged to my Great Aunt Fay. My Aunt Jennifer told us that our Great Aunt Fay wanted us to each have one.

So I chose this treasure of a cookbook. Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook, Popular Edition it was copyrighted in 1965. I can not tell you all how much I love this cookbook. I really, really love it! Not only does it have the best pie recipes on the face of this earth, it also has little notes and pieces of paper with my Great Aunts handwriting in different sections of the book. Which of course makes it the best damn pie book in the world to me.

I swear, every time I open this book I am reminded of the few visits that we made to her house in Oklahoma City before she moved into the old folks home. We would walk into the house and she would already be trying to feed us. Not just snacks either, she would have full country style meals prepared, warm and ready to eat. After gorging ourselves with her delicious home cooking, she would have dessert to go with it. All the while my Great Uncle Raymond would be telling us one of his stories and Great Aunt Fay would be telling him that everyone had heard the stories a hundred times or more and no one wanted to hear it again. To which he would ask us if we had heard the story and we would say, "no" and he would continue on with his story while Aunt Fay rolled her eyes at him and would walk away into the kitchen. Undoubtedly to start on the next meal. Now those are some good memories.

Any who, I want to begin to share some of these pies with you. To start it off, I have just the right pie for this time of year. It's the end of the summer and the blackberries are ready to be picked and this is a great way to use them in this delicious pie. It is one of my favorites!
Blackberry-Apple Pie

Pastry for 2 crust pie
3 c. fresh blackberries
1 c. thin, peeled green apple slices
2 1/2 to 3 tblsp. quick-cooking tapioca (I usually use 1-2 more tblsp. of tapioca because I don't like a runny pie)
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (I also like to add more cinnamon)
2 tblsp. butter

• Pick over and wash berries in cold water. Lift out and drain. In large bowl, combine berries, apples, tapioca, sugar and cinnamon, mixing well.
• Turn into pastry-lined 9" pie pan. Dot with butter and adjust top crust and flute edges; cut vents.
• Bake in hot oven (425 degrees F) until crust is golden brown and juices start to bubble up in vents, 40-50 minutes.

If your interested in a great pie crust to this pie here is a recipe for a cheese pastry:

Cheese Pastry

The book says that this pastry is "marvelous for apple pies."

1 2/3 c. sifted flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. grated sharp natural cheddar cheese
1/2 c. vegetable shortening
4-6 tblsp. cold water

• Sift flour with salt into medium bowl. Add cheese and toss with fork to mix thouroughly with flour. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles small peas.
• Sprinkle water over pastry mixture, 1 tblsp. at a time, until dough will hold together. Shape into a ball with hands, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate until ready to use. Divide in halves, flatten each half with hand. Make bottom and top crusts. Makes pastry for 1 (8" or 9") 2-crust pie.