my dad is quite possibly the best cook in the world. maybe i'm just partial to his awesome home cooking or the fact that he went to culinary school...either way- he's a magician in the kitchen, ya'll.
over the weekend my dad and nieces went to town on my dad's cherry trees and picked a million bajillion cherries. so naturally, i had to take a bag home with me... along with my dad's famous cherry pie recipe.
i was so anxious to give this a try. mainly because i knew how good it could possibly turn out and because your girl is never able to turn down a sweetsie. so with knowing that an entire pie would be waiting in my fridge to jump in my belly... i was on it like white on rice.
what you will need:
a boat load of fresh cherries. my dad's measurements on this part weren't really exact. he just handed me a freezer bag full and told me that i needed my pie to be "heaping".
okay...
2 pie crusts from the freezer section, which you will want to set out and unthaw while you prepare everything else. don't make the mistake i did at first and try to buy the graham cracker pie crusts. those are not right.
oopsies.
1 cup of sugar.
4 (very full) tablespoons of self rising flour.
1/4 teaspoon (or a dash) of salt.
1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon.
to start with you're going to want to get comfortable. turn on some PLL and grab you a glass of wine.
because this first part takes the longest and it's quite possibly the dirtiest/ wettest of them all.
yes, you
will be covered in cherry juice and
will want to shower while your pie bakes.
you are about to squeeze the seeds out of each individual cherry. yep. the fun part.
now that your cherries are ready to be used. pre-heat that oven of yours to 375degrees so it will be ready to go in a few minutes... because your steps now are pretty easy and quick.
next you are going to add your sugar, flour, salt, and cinnamon to your bowl of now seedless cherries.
mix that baby up really good with a large spoon and
voila- you have your pie filling!
pour your pie filling mixture into (one) of your pie crusts, leaving the metal-ish shell on the bottom of crust.
spread it out nice and even so each piece will be filled with yummy-goodness, of course.
now you are going to wet the outer edges of your bottom crust with your finger.
this makes it easier for the top crust to mold into the bottom.
speaking of the top crust- it's time to put that baby on there.
without the metal-ish cover.
this part wasn't exactly easy for me. which is why the top of my pie didn't turn out the prettiest. BUT i got it on there and got it covered, so that's all that matters. right?
if you want your pie to bake correctly, you're going to need to give it some air. which is where your creativity comes into play. since this was my first stab at making a pie, i simply cut slits in the top. i would love to get really good at this and be able to cover my pie in a criss cross manner at the top (you know, how real pies are
supposed to look)... but this will do for now.
oh and hey, guess what... all that's left is the baking in that warm oven you've already got pre-heated at 375degrees.
pop her in there for 25-30 minutes, or until she turns golden brown and starts to bubble out cherry juice.
let her cool for proper cutting. and you. are.
done.
now serve it with some yummy vanilla ice cream and i promise you will be the happiest person alive.
and you can officially call yourself a true southern belle now.
you've just made your very first, homemade, pie.
om nom nom.
thank, papa bear!
