Razzleberry Pie

*This is a re-post from last year.  It's one of those recipes that has to be posted every year.  It is the most searched for recipe on the blog.  I just made 5 more of these beauties for my own freezer.  I may or may not take them to Thanksgiving:)  Enjoy!

This is by far the most search for recipe on my blog.  And I can't blame anyone for that.  It is the best pie!  Hands down, there is no other pie on the planet that is as tasty as this Razzleberry Pie.  You might need to make these today, or tomorrow, but trust me, it is a necessary part of Thanksgiving.   I made them earlier this week and from start to finish it took me a little over an hour to make 5 pies.  Clean up may have taken a little longer thanks to a cute little baby girl, who loves to get into everything, but I'm not counting that time.

A few years ago, we had Elder Bednar from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints visit our little neck of the woods to reorganize our stake.   What that is, is the restructuring and calling of new leaders for our church.  We had lots of time with him over the next 3 days.  (Here's a link to some of those details.)  But one moment that made me smile was all related to this pie.  A few weeks earlier James was talking to the man who had been asked to cater a meal for the Apostle, and a few other church leaders.  He had the menu planned but didn't quite know what to fix for dessert.  James immediately told the man that he knew what Elder Bednar's favorite dessert was and that I would make a bunch of pies for the dinner.  James then called and told me what he had committed me to:)  Bless his heart!  Actually I had a few of these Razzleberry Pies in the freezer so it wasn't a big deal at all.  I took the beautiful pies to the church and that was that.  I didn't expect to hear anything, but I was pleasantly surprised the next morning.  

Sunday morning James and I had a meeting with the rest of the new Stake Presidency and their wives and Elder Bednar, his wife, and a few other wonderful people.  There were 12 of us total.  As Elder Bednar was walking into the room, he and another gentleman were talking about the dinner they had eaten the night before.   His comment to the other man went something like this.  "I think I could have eaten just that berry pie and raspberry jam and rolls and been perfectly content."  He was talking about my pie!!!  I wanted to jump up and down and say, "I Made That Pie Just For You!!"  But I didn't, but James' and I passed a smile that said it all.   

It really is a wonderful pie.  I hope you enjoy!    (I hope you have gobs of turkey too:)    It's the most wonderful time of the year! as Emma would say!  Loves and Kisses!! 

Razzleberry Pie

Crust:
6 c. flour
3 c. Crisco
3 t. salt
1 - 1 1/2 c. cold water (start with 1 c. of water and slowly dribble more if you need it.)

In a large bowl place flour and salt and cut Crisco into the flour until it resembles coarse meal.  I actually have found it is easier to use you hands to make this dough than a pastry blender.  Add the water and just bring the dough together.  Don't over mix or it will get really tough.  Divide the dough into 5 big dough balls.  Each dough ball will then be divided into a top and bottom crust.  I roll out 5 bottom crusts and place them in 8or 9 inch disposable pie pans.  After all the bottom crusts are ready I divide the filling equally between the 5 pies.  Then top with the top crust, crimp the edges and vent the pie.  I place tin foil over the top of the pie and place in the freezer for later use.

Filling:

4 3/4 c. water
3 1/3 c. sugar
1 large raspberry jello package
3 rounded 1/3 c. measures of cornstarch
Stir constantly and bring the ingredients to a boil.  Boil until it is clear and thick.  Fold in:

1 lb. frozen raspberries
1 lb. frozen blackberries
1 lb frozen blue berries
I usually add extra berries since I have gallons of them frozen from my garden.  Do what you got to do.  Also if I don't have all the berries I've done it with just raspberries, or I usually add Huckleberries into the mix.  

When you would like to bake a pie take it out of the freezer and brush the frozen pie with a little cream or milk and sprinkle white sugar on top.  This makes the pie sparkly.  Bake in a    375'F oven for 1 hour from frozen.  Make sure the pie is puffed up completely in the middle.  I sometimes have to bake an extra 10 mins. or so.  This pie really is dang good!!

Razzleberry Pie

This is by far the most search for recipe on my blog.  And I can't blame anyone for that.  It is the best pie!  Hands down, there is no other pie on the planet that is as tasty as this Razzleberry Pie.  You might need to make these today, or tomorrow, but trust me, it is a necessary part of Thanksgiving.   I made them earlier this week and from start to finish it took me a little over an hour to make 5 pies.  Clean up may have taken a little longer thanks to a cute little 17 month old baby girl, who loves to get into everything, but I'm not counting that time.

Last June 15th, to be exact, we had Elder Bednar from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints visit our little neck of the woods to reorganize our stake.   What that is, is the restructuring and calling of new leaders for our church.  We had lots of time with him over the next 3 days.  (Here's a link to some of those details.)  But one moment that made me smile was all related to this pie.  A few weeks earlier James was talking to the man who had been asked to cater a meal for the Apostle, and a few other church leaders.  He had the menu planned but didn't quite know what to fix for dessert.  James immediately told the man that he knew what Elder Bednar's favorite dessert was and that I would make a bunch of pies for the dinner.  James then called and told me what he had committed me to:)  Bless his heart!  Actually I had a few of these Razzleberry Pies in the freezer so it wasn't a big deal at all.  I took the beautiful pies to the church and that was that.  I didn't expect to hear anything, but I was pleasantly surprised the next morning.  

Sunday morning James and I had a meeting with the rest of the new Stake Presidency and their wives and Elder Bednar, his wife, and a few other wonderful people.  There were 12 of us total.  As Elder Bednar was walking into the room, he and another gentleman were talking about the dinner they had eaten the night before.   His comment to the other man went something like this.  "I think I could have eaten just that berry pie and raspberry jam and rolls and been perfectly content."  He was talking about my pie!!!  I wanted to jump up and down and say, "I Made That Pie Just For You!!"  But I didn't, but James' and I passed a smile that said it all.   

It really is a wonderful pie.  I hope you enjoy!    (I hope you have gobs of turkey too:)    It's the most wonderful time of the year! as Emma would say!  Loves and Kisses!! 

Razzleberry Pie

Crust:

6 c. flour

3 c. Crisco

3 t. salt

1 - 1 1/2 c. cold water (start with 1 c. of water and slowly dribble more if you need it.)

In a large bowl place flour and salt and cut Crisco into the flour until it resembles coarse meal.  I actually have found it is easier to use you hands to make this dough than a pastry blender.  Add the water and just bring the dough together.  Don't over mix or it will get really tough.  Divide the dough into 5 big dough balls.  Each dough ball will then be divided into a top and bottom crust.  I roll out 5 bottom crusts and place them in 8or 9 inch disposable pie pans.  After all the bottom crusts are ready I divide the filling equally between the 5 pies.  Then top with the top crust, crimp the edges and vent the pie.  I place tin foil over the top of the pie and place in the freezer for later use.

Filling:

4 3/4 c. water

3 1/3 c. sugar

1 large raspberry jello package

3 rounded 1/3 c. measures of cornstarch

Stir constantly and bring the ingredients to a boil.  Boil until it is clear and thick.  Fold in:

1 lb. frozen raspberries

1 lb. frozen blackberries

1 lb frozen blue berries

I usually add extra berries since I have gallons of them frozen from my garden.  Do what you got to do.  Also if I don't have all the berries I've done it with just raspberries, or I usually add Huckleberries into the mix.  

When you would like to bake a pie take it out of the freezer and brush the frozen pie with a little cream or milk and sprinkle white sugar on top.  This makes the pie sparkly.  Bake in a    375'F oven for 1 hour from frozen.  Make sure the pie is puffed up completely in the middle.  I sometimes have to bake an extra 10 mins. or so.  This pie really is dang good!!

Here's a little Thanksgiving love for you:) Enjoy this message:)

Pumpkin Pie (Made with a real pumpkin!)

Those little pumpkins are the one's I roasted to make these pies.  They're perfectly sized.
And just so you know.  Those pumpkins and wheat stalks are the extent of my fall decorating:)

*Just a quick note here.  My pumpkin pie post was linked to, from the Gourmet Live blog!  I'm flattered:)


I have a weakness.   I love walking through Costco!  I especially love walking through Costco around late Sept. early Oct. and spying the enormous Pumpkin Pies in the bakery dept.  And they're cheap.  Even in Hawaii they are cheap.  Like $5.95 for a huge pie.  And my dear friends, the crust may not be spectacular, but the pie is lovely.  My family can do some serious damage to a pumpkin pie in no time at all.

Another confession.  I will now make all of my pumpkin stuff with real pumpkins.  Next summer my entire garden is going to be planted in adorable Sugar Pie Pumpkins.   I'm going to have a huge pumpkin patch.  I love those perfectly sized pumpkins!  I have bought a few of them the last few weeks, and my word, they make the best Pumpkin Pies.  They even beat Costco's!  Add a homemade pie crust, and there is nothing better in the world.  I've made 4 of these in 2 days.  My family has only eaten 2, and the other two were given away.  One to my perfect neighbor who has taken my garbage out for me the last 2 weeks.  And I'll bet he's done it many more times without me noticing.  He's really nice.  I hope you all have a neighbor like George.   I will totally share a pie with perfect neighbors.

Each one of the lovely little Sugar Pie pumpkins pictured above makes 2-  9inch pumpkin pies.  I follow the Libby Pumpkin Pie recipe, but substitute 1 cooked Sugar Pie pumpkin for a 29 oz. can of pumpkin.  It works perfectly every time.  So enjoy your pumpkin pie my friends.  I keep telling myself I'm just practicing making these pies so they'll be perfect by Thanksgiving Day.  Who am I kidding?  Let them eat pie!  Every day!

How to roast a Sugar Pie Pumpkin

 This is easy!  Piece of cake or easy as pie:)  I preheat my oven to 375'F and put the whole pumpkin on a cookie sheet.  I don't wash it, or cut it or scoop the seeds out.  Just plop the whole thing in the oven.  Let the pumpkin bake for about 30-40 minutes.  It may start to leak a little and when you touch the pumpkin it will feel tender to the touch.  Take the pumpkin out and let sit until cooled.  After it has cooled I take a big knife and cut the pumpkin in half.  Scoop out the seeds and discard them or you can always save them to roast later.  Then scoop the flesh from inside the pumpkin.  It should be very easy. You can almost just peel the skin off.  If your pumpkin is a little stringy, no worries.  I mix the pumpkin pie filling together, and then either blend it with a blender or stick an immersion blender in to smooth the filling out.  Give this a try!  You'll be pleased with how it turns out:)

 Pumpkin Pie

make 2- 9 inch pies

recipe adapted from Libby's

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

4 large eggs

1 29 oz. can  Pumpkin or the flesh of 1 roasted Sugar Pie Pumpkin

2 can (12 fl. oz.)  Evaporated Milk

2 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell

Whipped cream (optional)

Directions

MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, and ginger in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

POUR into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 375' F oven for 75 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving. 

Here's my favorite pie crust!

(this makes enough for 4 single pies, 2 double crusted pies, or 2 Galettes.)

3 c. flour

1 1/2 c shortening

1 T. sugar

1 t. salt 

1 egg

1/4-1/3 c. water

1 T. vinegar

3 T. cornstarch

Combine flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar.  Cut in shortening.  I actually like to use Manteca Lard  a lot of the times.  My sisters friend Makita gave us this tip a few years ago and it make delicious pie crust!  Mix egg, cold water, and vinegar.  Blend into flour mixture until it forms a ball.  Try to handle the dough as little as possible.  Makes 4 single pie crusts.  I always make the whole recipe.  If I have dough left over I just plop the dough ball into a Ziploc and put it into the freezer.  All you have to do is thaw and roll when needed.  

Razzleberry Pie

This is who were visiting this year!
Can you tell my kids LOVE them!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I love it.  It's my favorite holiday.  It has all the family together-ness, food, festiveness, and wonderfulness of Christmas without all the pressure of the gifts.  It's the perfect holiday.  I just finished making the Razzleberry Pies for this years festivities.  We are actually heading out to San Francisco to visit some favorite friends this year for Thanksgiving.  Our friends told me not to worry about bringing anything.............but you know me.  I'll have a cooler or two full by the time the actual day rolls around.

last years ice skating

Can I tell you about my first Thanksgiving being a Clawson?  I hope nobody takes offense, because no offense is meant.  I love James' family.  They're the best.  I gained 6 more sisters when I married James and I feel blessed everyday to have them.  As you can tell the family is large.  Way large and they celebrated Thanksgiving with the enormous extended family up until a few years ago.  First off, Thanksgiving was celebrated at a church.  I'd never experienced such a thing.  We never had huge celebrations as I was growing up.  Sometimes it would be just our family and one other.  Sometimes we went to Vegas and ate at a buffet.  But most times it involved a small intimate group with movies, ice skating on the pond, and a trap shoot.  So the church thing really threw me off.  The aunts cooked for hours.  They looked like a bunch of lunch ladies in their fun aprons, and enormous amounts of food being prepared.  When the big event was finally ready I was polite.  The cute little new comer, and I didn't want to look like a Ziggy Piggy so I waited my turn in line.  By the time I started dishing up some kids were already done.  I came to the turkey platter and low and behold it was empty.  EMPTY!!  I had to choke back sobs right there.  I wanted my mom, my dad, my little brothers, my dog, my house, and DANG IT I WANTED TURKEY!

Happy pies from Thanksgivings past

I went home that day and cried my eyeballs out.  Really!  I did.  I questioned whether I wanted to be in this for better or worse.  The "Worse" was pretty bad.  No turkey.  James was so kind and thoughtful.  At least I don't remember him being mean or telling me to suck it up or anything.  I learned that day a huge lesson.  I always have a roasted turkey in my fridge now.    I can't leave my turkey happiness up to anyone but myself.  I won't ever be left standing without my obligatory leftover turkey sandwich again.  Actually it doesn't matter where we have Thanksgiving I always have leftover everything in my fridge for the Holiday weekend.  It's important to my cheerfulness.

So now enjoy the start of the season.  This pie is absolutely the best!  THE BEST!  It makes 5 at a time and you freeze them until needed.  This pie won first place at the Utah State Fair, and is a favorite of Elder Bednar.    (I love hearing from happy recipe takers.  Every once in awhile I have someone come up and tell me about one of the recipes I've posted and how much they love it.  I love that!  It makes my day!)  I didn't make either of these winner pies, but as you can tell, the recipe is a winner.  I hope you enjoy!    (I hope you have gobs of turkey too:)  I'l post some of my other favorite holiday recipes too.  It's the most wonderful time of the year! as Emma would say!  Loves and Kisses!!

Pies under construction.  Love on wheels!

Razzleberry Pie

Crust:

6 c. flour

3 c. Crisco

3 t. salt

1 1/2 c. cold water

In a large bowl place flour and salt and cut Crisco into the flour until it resembles coarse meal.  I actually have found it is easier to use you hands to make this dough than a pastry blender.  Add the water and just bring the dough together.  Don't over mix or it will get really tough.  Divide the dough into 5 big dough balls.  Each dough ball will then be divided into a top and bottom crust.  I roll out 5 bottom crusts and place them in 8or 9 inch disposable pie pans.  After all the bottom crusts are ready I divide the filling equally between the 5 pies.  Then top with the top crust, crimp the edges and vent the pie.  I place tin foil over the top of the pie and place in the freezer for later use.

Filling:

4 3/4 c. water

3 1/3 c. sugar

1 large raspberry jello package

3 rounded 1/3 c. measures of cornstarch (approx. 1 1/3 c. of cornstarch)

Stir constantly and bring the ingredients to a boil.  Boil until it is clear and thick.  Fold in:

1 lb. frozen raspberries

1 lb. frozen blackberries

1 lb frozen blue berries

I usually add extra berries since I have gallons of them frozen from my garden.  Do what you got to do.  Also if I don't have all the berries I've done it with just raspberries, or I usually add Huckleberries into the mix.  

When you would like to bake a pie take it out of the freezer and brush the frozen pie with a little cream or milk and sprinkle white sugar on top.  This makes the pie sparkly.  Bake in a    375'F oven for 1 hour from frozen.  Make sure the pie is puffed up completely in the middle.  I sometimes have to bake an extra 10 mins. or so.  This pie really is dang good!!