Blue Ribbon Blueberry Pie

Blue Ribbon Blueberry Pie – an award-winning fresh blueberry pie with hints of citrus and ginger – the perfect summer BBQ treat!

Once upon a time there was a little girl who made her first-ever blueberry pie.  She nervously entered this untested and untried (but still warm from the oven) pie in the county fair.  Her pie didn’t look very impressive next to all of the beautiful, gleaming, egg-washed pies and she certainly felt very small lined up with all of the housewives and grandmas and experienced bakers.

And then she even more nervously watched and waited as the judges took a bite, fully expecting them to spit it out any minute.  And then the most amazing thing happened: they liked it!  Not just liked it, but proclaimed it the best blueberry pie this side of the Mississippi, gave it a blue ribbon, and proceeded to auction it off for a million-billion dollars (okay, so like $100, but that doesn’t sound as good).  And that little girl was just thrilled beyond words.

I bake a lot.  A whole lot.  (Mostly so I don’t punch people in the face-something about creative outlets for stress.)  And through all the years and truckloads of flour and pounds of butter, a few recipes stand out with happy memories.  This is one of those.  This pie was (to my recollection) the first recipe I made from scratch: the one that taught me that I can have an idea about flavor and give it a try and, by golly, it just might work.  This is the pie that started it all.  And more than that – this pie reminds me of summertime and sunshine and county fairs and a freckle-faced little girl with pigtail braids who had the courage to try something new.

So here’s to pie, courage, and the glorious American summer!

side note: do y’all have any idea how hard it is to photograph a pie?! Much less while it’s warm because you don’t have the patience to not eat it immediately?!