It’s PI Day!

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Mix all dry ingredients together with a whisk. Add the cream, buttermilk, egg, sorghum, and vanilla, and stir until mixed. Do not over-mix.
• Carefully fold berries into batter until evenly distributed.
• Pour batter into pie crust. Sprinkle extra brown sugar over top of batter.Bake about one hour.
• Let cool for at least one hour before serving. Top with fresh whipped cream or vanilla yogurt and sprinkle with berries.

• Sift flour and salt together.
• With a pastry blender or two knives used scissor-fashion, cut lard into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs the size of peas.
• Add just enough ice water to mix. Too much working results in a tough pastry.
• Lightly flour counter and rolling pin. Roll crust out to 1/8-inch thickness. Size circle to allow for a 1-inch overhang.
• Place crust in a 9-inch pie pan.
• Trim and crimp the edge. Prick the bottom and sides with a fork. Do not bake before adding filling.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Combine sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl. Add beaten eggs, mixing lightly.
• Fold in cooked pumpkin and gradually stir in evaporated milk or half and half. Mix well.
• Pour in unbaked pie shell and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake additional 40 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

• Preheat oven to 375°.
• In a small bowl, mix together sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. In a large bowl, gently mix blueberries with lemon juice to coat. Sprinkle sugar mixture over blueberries and gently mix until blueberries are completely coated.
• Combine egg yolk and water to create egg wash.
• Using a small 4-to-5 inch bowl as a template and a sharp knife, cut 3 or 4 circles out of each prepared pie crust. Leftover pieces can be used to form complete circles if necessary. Place dough circles on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
• Fill the center of pie crusts with 1-2 tablespoons of blueberry mixture. Brush edges with egg wash. Fold crust in half and seal edges by pressing the back of a fork down on top edge of dough.
• Chill hand pies for 30 minutes in the refrigerator before baking. Remove from refrigerator and brush top sides with remaining egg wash. Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar. Cut a small slit in the tops of the hand pies to let steam escape during baking.
• Bake 20 minutes or until pies have turned golden brown and are flaky.
• Let pies cool for 5 minutes before serving.
• Enjoy!

• To make crust: Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in butter or use a pastry blender until coarse meal forms and some small lumps remain. Stir in buttermilk and knead gently with your hands until dough forms, adding fl our if needed. Dough will remain sticky. Dust lightly with fl our, wrap in plastic, and chill for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, lay tomato slices in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with two layers of paper towels. Place another two layers of paper towels on top of tomatoes. Let stand for 30 minutes to drain.
• Preheat oven to 425°. Roll out dough between two sheets of parchment or wax paper to an 11-inch round. Remove top layer of parchment and invert dough onto a 9-inch pie dish, carefully peeling off remaining parchment.
• Toss the cheddar and Parmesan together in a medium bowl and reserve ¼ cup. Whisk cream cheese, mayonnaise, onion, basil,vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl.
• Sprinkle cornmeal evenly over bottom of crust. Top with about½ cup cheese mixture, arrange ⅓ of tomatoes over cheese,overlapping as needed, then spread half of the cream cheese mixture over the tomatoes. Repeat, layering with 1 cup of cheese mixture,½ of the remaining tomato slices, and remaining cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese mixture over, then remaining tomato slices. Sprinkle with reserved ¼ cup cheese mixture. Fold overhanging crust up and over edges of tomato slices or trim off the edges for a traditional pie.
• Bake about 35 to 40 minutes, until crust is golden. Tent with foil halfway through if crust gets too dark. Let pie cool 1 to 2 hours before slicing. Serve with a slice of bacon.

• Preheat the oven to 350°.
• Peel and halve pears, leaving the stem intact.
• Use a melon baller to scoop out the seeds and a small hole. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet face down, round side up.
• Roll out the pie crust into ¼-inch-thick sheets, then divide into squares large enough to fit over a pear half. Cover the pear with pie crust, then use a small knife to cut around the edges of the pear.
• Use a knife to make small slits on the pear. Form excess crust into small leaves and pinch them to the top of the pears. To make them more secure, brush the leaves lightly with milk. Repeat with the remaining pears.
• Bake until pie crust is golden and juice is bubbling from the pears, about 20 minutes.
• Let them cool, then top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle with caramel.

• Cut off the top of 4 apples and discard.
• Carefully remove the inside of each apple with a spoon or melon baller, not puncturing the peel. Salvage as much as you can for the filling.

Filling

• Remove skin from the remaining apples and slice very thinly.
• In a bowl, mix apple slices with cinnamon and sugars.
• Spoon filling into hollow apples.

Apples

• Roll out piecrust and slice into 1/4-inch strips.
• Cover the top of each apple with piecrust strips in a lattice pattern.
• Place apples in an 8-by-8-inch baking dish.
• Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the dish.
• Cover with foil and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and apple slices are tender.