Cherry, Berry Pie and Party

When I was a kid I hated pie. I thought, why would I want to eat sour cooked fruit for dessert when I can have cake!? Fast forward a few years and I realized that, given enough planning, I could have pie and cake. And ice cream, and cookies, and chocolate. But in practice I’ve found that I only make pie on a whim. I don’t ever plan to bake, and I don’t crave pie. But then once or twice a year the stars align and I rush out for ingredients, necessarily forgetting at least one key part, and I rush home full of excitement and improvise my way through a traditional recipe. This was one of those nights. I recalled this board game I keep hearing about, Settlers of Catan, and we jumped in the car to go find it, and I had visions of a pie and game night.

What You’ll Need

1 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup orange marmalade*
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 3/4 cups sliced strawberries
1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 1/4 cups cherries, pitted and sliced
1 box of Pilsbury Pie Crust (Or make your own!)
1 egg, beaten

*I didn’t have marmalade so I made my own by boiling the juice and chopped peel of one orange with 1/4 cup sugar until it was sticky-thick.

Preheat the oven to 375. In a large bowl, combine the fruit, sugar, marmelade and cornstarch and mix them up to coat everything evenly. Then prepare your crust – I like to make a simple lattice crust on pie, so I cut the dough in 3/4 inch strips, spoon in the filling, and overlap the lattice pieces tucking the ends into the bottom crust. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, then allow the pie to cool before digging in!

This is the easiest pie I’ve ever made – no peeling and slicing apples or pears – and I adapted this original Bon Appétite Recipe to fit my pantry’s stock. And guess what? Catan is awesome. It’s like Monopoly meets Risk, with lots of strategizing and bargaining for fun!

And don’t forget, tomorrow night is HourSchool’s Mission Launch Party in Austin! Head over to CTC Gardens to meet some really inspiring people, see what’s new with HourSchool and enjoy a special Liberty and Lunch cocktail!