Crimson Pie *Melissa

Now, this is one of Nate's favorite desserts, second to apple crisp, of course. This pie is made frequently for Holidays in the Green household. I pass it on to you as it was passed on to me from Nate's mom. She always makes sure to tell me, "Now, don't feel like you have to make this exactly the way I do! You can make it however you like."

So! Since I've made it a few dozen times since we've been married I have made one slight modification but otherwise this is an easy and beautiful pie that is sure to impress and delight the taste buds.

I recently made two crimson pies for a large group of people so I made one with a slivered almond top and the other with a crust top.

4 cups blueberries (1 1/2 reserved)
12 oz cranberries (not dried)
1/3 orange (minced with rind)
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp butter
pie pastry (I cheated to save time and used store bought pastry dough)
slivered almonds

Set oven on 400 degrees. Mince orange, rind included. Mix with berries in large heavy-bottomed pot. (You can use any large pot you have but if it doesn't have a heavy bottom make sure you babysit the berry mixture so it doesn't burn.









Stir in cornstarch and sugar. On stove top, bring berries to a gentle boil to activate corn starch, stirring constantly. This is when the CRIMSON happens!









Prepare bottom pie crust in pie plate and fill with berry mixture, mounding in center. Mix in reserved blueberries.

















Now, time to prepare the pie top. I made one pie with a pastry top and another with slivered almonds on the top.

For the pastry top roll out the dough and made cut outs of any shape of your choosing. My mom usually does an oak leaf cut out for fall pies. I went with a star since Memorial Day is right around the corner. Brush pie top with milk so it gets nice and golden in the oven.
















For the slivered almond topping just sprinkle over berry mixture then place pats of butter around so that when the pie goes in the oven the almonds toast up to a mouthwatering brown color.








Bake pie for 45-50 minutes or until filling begins to bubble up. **Place in oven on foil or baking sheet b/c the filling can bubble over a bit. Enjoy your hot pie with vanilla ice cream! mmmmmmmm !