There are pie bakers and then there are PIE BAKERS! When Grandma Mary Jane C. came to Minneapolis (all the way from Kansas) for her grandson’s wedding, she brought with her 14 pies—all frozen on dry ice. She baked the pies for a gathering on the day after the wedding.
The pies weren’t all the same flavor either—which would have made her work a lot easier. Instead she made: blackberry, cherry, pecan, apple, peach, strawberry-rhubarb and blueberry pies. And, these are just the ones that I saw and tasted (the rest were still in the freezer). My favorite was her Blackberry Pie.
At last count, Mary Jane (photo below) estimates that she has made over 10,000 pies, having made around 2,400 in 2007 alone.
As a child, she and her sisters helped their mother bake pies. Later, she became a high school Home Economics teacher and taught her students how to make pies, using the Stir-N-Roll Pastry crust recipe from a 1956 edition of the Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book.
Grandma C. retired in 1991 and that’s when she started baking pies as a hobby. She bakes pies for a small restaurant in the town where she lives, about 8 fruit pies and 4 to 5 cream pies each week—and sometimes more.
Some of her other specialties include: cherry-custard, coconut cream, banana crème, strawberry, chocolate, lemon, Key lime, butterscotch and pumpkin. Then there are her Orchard (peach, blackberry and cherry) and Bumble Bee (blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, rhubarb and apple) Pies.
Blackberry Pie
Stir-N- Roll Pastry (recipe follows)
1 ¼ lb blackberries
1 cup sugar
Juice from 1 lemon
3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1. Heat oven to 450°F. Prepare pastry.
2. For bottom crust, place one half of dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper (12-inch square). Roll out gently to edges of paper. Dampen counter to prevent slipping. Peel off top paper. If dough tears, mend without moistening. Lift paper and pastry by top corners. Place paper-side-up in pie pan. Peel off paper. Fit pastry into pan. Trim crust even with rim.
3. In large bowl, combine blackberries, sugar, lemon juice and tapioca. Spoon berry mixture into bottom crust. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over filling.
4. For top crust, roll as for bottom crusts; place over filling. Trim to rim of pie pan. Seal by pressing gently with folk or by fluting edge. Cut 3 or 4 small slits near center to allow steam to escape during baking. Sprinkle sugar over top.
5. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake for an additional 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.
Stir-N-Roll Pastry
2 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1. In medium bowl, combine flour and salt. In glass measuring cup combine oil and milk. Pour oil mixture into flour mixture; stir with fork until mixed. (Dough looks moist but isn’t sticky.) Press into smooth ball. Cut in half; flatten halves slightly.