Mixed Berry Crumble Pie

It was sweet, it was juicy, it was crumbly. It tasted like SUMMER. Actually, it tasted like summer back home in the midwest, on a night when you can hear the crickets and see the lightning bugs flashing and hear a little rumble of thunder off in the distance and smell the rain coming and know that everything is right in the world (okay….we might still be a tad bit homesick).

But back to the pie. It was warm and perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream melting in perfect contrast alongside the sweet, slightly tart berry goodness. It was so good we each had two slices — no shame, no apologies.

Second, the original recipe called for a TON of fresh blueberries….nearly two pounds of them. Even though blueberries were on super-sale at Publix, I couldn’t bring myself to dump the entire stash into one pie. Plus, raspberries were also on super-special at Publix, so we figured it would be nice to mix the two together. It turned out to be a genius stroke! We used a ratio of about 2/3 blueberries, 1/3 raspberries. Since our blueberries were incredibly sweet they set the perfect rich, sweet, yummy tone. But our raspberries were relatively tart so every now and then you get this little pop of tanginess mixed in. Utterly delicious.

Then there’s the crumb crust — insanely easy to make and the perfect, crunchy, spicy accent to the berries.

But perhaps the true beauty of this pie is how insanely easy it is to prepare. The filling takes just minutes to mix. The crumb crust even less time and the store bought shell…well…you get the idea. But it just tastes like…well, it tastes like the perfect way to end the last Saturday night you’ll ever spend with your husband before your first child arrives. That’s how it tastes. And that’s pretty damned good.