American Pie, part 1 & 2

"One time at band camp...."

Mmmm......pie. So tasty, so simple. I love baking when having friends over, but I don't like to do the same thing over, and over and over again. Not that I don't love my strawberry (oat)short cakes or peach cobbler, because I do! I just love trying something new. And the great thing I learned about pie is how easy it is. You make whatever goodness goes inside and just pour it into a pie crust. Viola! And while I love making my baked goods from scratch, I cheat with the crust. I admit it. I buy frozen. I need to get motivated and make my own, but for now, this is how I roll.

I was a huge fan of Whole Foods Gluten-Free Bakehouse gluten-free crusts...until I went to buy some for Father's Day the other week...and they were out! I kept staring at the freezer shelf in desperation, hoping one would magically appear. Next, I looked behind everything in that section, hoping I would find one. Thankfully, as I was walking away in sulking defeat, I saw Gillian's had a pie crust in a different part of the freezer section - score! I was skeptical, but in the end, I really liked Gillian's crust and may go for that one first next time. Rich buttery flavor.

And when you buys crusts they come in sets of two, so of course I couldn't use just one!

So what was I going to put in my pies...well, I had a desire to work with rhubarb, which I had never done before. I never even touched it, so this would be a total first. I decided to do a strawberry rhubarb pie, and as I was picking up blueberries on sale, Whole Foods had a recipe for blueberry sour cream pie next to the blueberries (how clever you are WF!), so that decided it!

I admit, it is pretty risky to try something new on guests, but I decided to go for it. And thankfully it resulted in some mighty tasty pies!! Two very distinct flavors, but equally as delicious. I kept asking which one my guests like best, but no one could decide.

I posted my strawberry rhubarb pie on the celiac-disease web site. Below is a fabulous photo of the pie in progress before the crumble topping was put on and it was baked.

The blueberry sour cream pie was not a recipe I put together myself, so I have Whole Foods to thank for it. I will copy it below with my change of using a gluten-free pie crust, and leaving out the powdered sugar sprinkled on top, which I just felt it didn't need.

Blueberry sour cream pie

1 cup sour cream

½ cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 pint blueberries

1 frozen gluten-free pie shell, thawed

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Gently stir in blueberries.

Pour mixture into pie crust and bake 55 to 65 minutes or until custard is slightly puffed and just set in the middle. Allow pie to cool to room temperature. If desired, chill before sprinkling with powdered sugar and serving.

Enjoy, and get ready to feel the love!