Allum-Wilkes Family

On July 11, we went blueberry picking. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. We went out on a bike ride, saw the blueberry farm, stopped, and picked about a pound of blueberries. I would have loved to pick more, but the little ones kind of dictated how long we got to spend there.

Ethan really enjoyed picking blueberries. By the end of our time at the blueberry patch he really understood that he needed to pick the berries that were blue and not the green or red ones.

Hayden didn’t care too much about the picking of blueberries. He was definitely more into the eating of blueberries. He did manage to get a couple into the bucket, but the majority went straight to his mouth.

So a week later, I am finally getting around to doing something with the blueberries. I am making a blueberry pie. I make almost everything from scratch, spend a lot of time playing with my boys, and dawdle so it has taken me most of the afternoon and evening to make the pie and it is finally in the oven.

Our boys are currently on a gluten-free casein-free diet.

I based the blueberry pie on the recipe found here. I based the graham crackers on the recipe found here. I based the cheesecake on the recipe found here. The recipes complete with my modifications are listed below.

Ingredients for the Graham Crackers

• 2 cups of gluten-free flour (I use brown rice flour)
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
• 3/4 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup of gluten-free, dairy-free margarine
• 2 Tablespoons of honey
• 3 Tablespoons of dairy-free milk substitute

Directions for Making Graham Crackers

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. Cut the margarine into the flour mixture until it is evenly crumbly.
3. In a separate bowl mix together honey and dairy-free milk substitute until honey is dissolved.
4. Add honey and milk mixture into the flour mixture and toss with a fork until dough forms.
5. Gently knead the dough until smooth.
6. Press or roll dough out onto greased baking sheet and bake at 325 F for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Ingredients for Graham Cracker Crust

• Graham cracker sheet from recipe above
• 1/2 cup gluten-free, dairy free margarine, melted
• 1/8 cup water

Directions for making the Graham Cracker Crust

1. Crush graham crackers (I put them in my mini chopper, but they could also be placed in a plastic bag and rolled over with a rolling pin)
2. Add melted margarine and water to crushed graham cracker crumbs and mix well.
3. Evenly press mixture into greased pie plate.
4. Bake at 375 F for 4-5 minutes or until lightly browned.
5. Allow to cool before filling.

Ingredients for the Blueberry Pie Filling

• 4 cups of blueberries (I used fresh, but frozen blueberries will work as well.)
• 7 Tablespoons of corn starch
• 3 Tablespoons of water
• 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of allspice
• 2/3 cups of sugar

How to make the Blueberry Pie

1. Wash the blueberries, removing all stems.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the cornstarch, cinnamon, allspice, and sugar.
3. Add the water and lemon juice to the dry ingredients and mix in.
4. Pour the blueberries in to the pie crust.
5. Pour the liquid mix over the blueberries.
6. Sprinkle crumb topping over pie.
7. Bake at 375 F for 1 hour or until pie is golden and bubbly.
8. Let cool and enjoy.

Ingredients for Cheesecake Filling

• 1 (8 oz.) package of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 Cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

How to make the Cheesecake

1. Mix Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, eggs, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until well blended.
2. Pour into graham cracker crust.
3. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until set.
4. Cool and refrigerate before serving.

It all looks and smells delicious. After a busy day of baking, the kitchen is now a mess, so I guess I better go and clean it up.