the pie that almost wasn't, part 2

And now here is part 2 of the blueberry pie saga. I got the pie in the oven, but the drama wasn't over. I followed the baking instructions and placed a baking sheet lined with parchment paper on the rack beneath the pie to catch any possible juice overflow. After about 15 minutes, I could smell something burning. Thinking it was a leftover potato wedge that fell through the rack a couple weeks ago, I ignored it. A couple minutes later, I cracked the oven door and saw blackened parchment paper and smoke. Fortunately, there was no fire or anything, but I was startled. I removed the parchment paper and returned the baking sheet to the oven.

Alas, all ended well. The pie glistened from the egg wash and looked nice and juicy inside. Here is the finished product:

It pains me a little bit when I have to cut into a pie, but I know it's the only way to eat it, right? The pie began to ooze with the blueberries and all their juices.

I'm not sure if I've ever had blueberry pie before. It was phenomenal, maybe the best pie I've made so far. Drew and I silently devoured a slice with vanilla ice cream. He even said that he wished that he could lick the bowl. The crust was really great; I think I must have slightly underbaked it the last time. The butter in the crust provided a nice taste, and the filling wasn't too sweet or overwhelming. And the blueberries just tasted...so fresh.

In part 1 of this post, I mentioned that I was considering a $69 class on pie making at Sur la Table. After mulling this over, I've decided to pass. Tonight, I told Drew that when we go to his mom and dad's over winter break, I'm not leaving Virginia until I've mastered pie crust. But this doesn't seem like a good idea either because I think I'm really only doing this to bake pumpkin and pecan pies for the holidays. So what's a girl on a pie making mission to do? Rather than take a class or wait for winter break, I'm going to follow the pie crust making tutorial from the Smitten Kitchen. So in the meantime, I'm going to try to bake a pie each weekend. Drew isn't sure that there are enough varieties of pie to keep me occupied until winter break, but I'm up for the challenge. Stay tuned.