a recipe from my mother

Anna loves blueberries. 
Anna turned 24 today. 
To welcome her to the age of maturity, I asked my mom for her blueberry pie recipe. Mom sent me the following (verbatim). 

Blueberry Dessert (a.k.a. Grandma Pranger's best of all time dessert)

The directions below are for a 8-9" pie shell.  If you need to make a 9x13 pyrex size dessert, check back for adjustments. :)

Read all directions through to the end before beginning.

The crust:

3/4 or slightly more of one stick butter

5 tblsp. sugar

1 1/4 cups flour

Comments:

a. Use butter.....margarine makes it flop.

b. A trick that seems to work for me is to mix the sugar in with the flour and then add this mixture to softened butter.  If the butter is hard, you can let it set in a warm room for an hour OR microwave it on very very low power (20-30%) for 30 seconds.

c. Pat slightly in pie plate and bake for no more than 10 minutes at 350.  You want to check this from time to time.  Crust should NOT start to become golden.

The glaze:

1. A blender 1/3 full of blueberries (approximately 1 1/2 - 2 cups)

2. 1 1/2 - 2 tblsps. cornstarch

3.  1 cup sugar

4.  scant amount of salt (little less than an 1/8 of a teaspoon)

5.  1 tblsp. lemon juice (fresh is nice but bottled is fine)

Comments:

a. Put the blueberries in first, whirl until crushed, then add the cornstarch and the rest of the ingredients, cornstarch first, then sugar.  This is important because otherwise the cornstarch adheres to the side of the blender and it's hard to mix in.

b. Don't get smart and reduce the sugar.  You don't need to add any sugar to the blueberries the glaze goes over, but you need this amount to give the whole dessert flavor.

c.  When the mix is blended in the blender, pour it into a saucepan with a higher side --so you can keep it from spattering.  I turn the burner on medium and keep stirring it, preferably with a wire whisk, but if you don't have one, a fork will do.  The trick is to stir constantly once it becomes warm or it will burn on the bottom of the pan.  After a couple minutes of boiling, it will start to thicken.  Keep cooking it a minute or two longer and then remove from heat.  Don't worry that it is too thin, as the sauce will thicken as it cools.  

d. Be sure the sauce is at least room temperature before you add the berries below.

e.  This is the second thing I do after washing the berries and making sure the above amount are more or less dry....the crust can easily be made while the sauce is cooling down.

gettin' saucy (note: blue tongue. mark of a good chef.)

The fruit:

1.  3 - 4 cups of blueberries, approximately a quart (you'll also need the cup and a half for the glaze above, so be sure to get enough).

Comments:

a. The first thing I do when I start to make this dessert is wash ALL the blueberries, hull them, if needed, and put them on a cookie sheet lined with a paper towel (or clean dish towel--but it might have purple leopard spots when you are done) to dry.  You can shake them back and forth to speed up the process, but when you add the glaze to the berries for the pie, they should be dry, not wet, or you will have a watery glaze.

It always annoys me when people write, "Enjoy."  So I will not say that, but you will find this dessert is absolutely the best dessert in the entire world. !!

L,

M.

Bliss.