All week I was craving some” good old summer fun”.  My return to work had me feeling that summer was over, even though we clearly have a little longer to go.  I got to work planning my “summer cook out” menu and we had our friends Callie, Mike and their beagle, Beal over to share.  Well, Irene really cramped my style.  While I was envisioning a cooler full of beer, lawn chairs and outdoor eating, the reality was that Bryan grilled burgers in a rain coat and we ate around the dining room table.  Still a fun time had by all 🙂

Our menu included:

Peach and Cucumber Salsa
Napa Valley Cabernet Burgers    
Green Coleslaw
Green Bean and tomato Salad
Corn on the Cob
Blueberry Pie

The blueberry pie was born out of the Wild Maine Blueberries that I found at Whole Foods this week.  They were quite lovely and I couldn’t resist.  I had planned to make this (substituting blueberries and pecans), but after disastrous results with the crust for that recipe I moved on to my original plan “make a pie”.  I often find myself drawn to making pies for dinner parties.  I will sometimes try to think of some elaborate dessert to make, but end up having so much more fun making pie!  I whipped up a batch of pie crust and crumb topping.  The recipe for the blueberry filling is below.  This pie came out perfectly, I often have trouble with blueberries causing the filling to be very juicy. These berries held their shape and paired well with the addition of lemon zest.

I had a piece this morning for breakfast with my coffee and it was the perfect way to celebrate Irene and my cozy Sunday doing nothing but blogging 😉

Blueberry Pie Filling

2 pints fresh Wild Maine Blueberries
4 tbsp. vanilla sugar (or regular sugar)
2 tsp. lemon zest
2 tbsp. all purpose flour

(Follow the instructions in the link up till the filling is added) Gently combine and pour into pie crust.  Top with crumb topping and bake for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees.  Then rotate pie and reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook for another 20 minutes to a half hour, till the top and crust are golden. Serve with Lemon Basil Ice Cream!