Born in 1929, I grew up as a sharecropper’s daughter in the foothills of “Lost Mountain” (Kennesaw, Georgia). We ate what we grew and preserved canned, dried, or fresh produce. There were marvelous huckleberries growing wild for the picking. I would pick them and bring them to my mother, who transformed them into homemade-crust pies. Since I now live in Covington, there are no huckleberries to pick, so I planted six blueberry bushes.
2 (9-inch) frozen piecrusts, thawed
4 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed
½ plus ½ cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter
Preheat the oven to 375°. In a medium-size bowl combine the blueberries and ½ cup of the sugar and stir gently. In another bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar, and the salt. Mix well with your hands. With two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture. Set the two piecrusts on a large cookie sheet. Gently stir the blueberries and divide them between the piecrusts. Pour the flour/butter mixture into a mound on top of the berries. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. When removing the pies from the oven, be very careful because the juice may spill onto the cookie sheet.
YIELD: 16 SERVINGS
Louise Cartwright
Covington, Georgia