Mini Berry Pies for the 4th of July (hey that rhymed...)

The 4th of July is our FAVORITE holiday around here. We love everything about it -- the flags, the food, outdoor activities, the fireworks, the decor, the patriotic music. I decorate for the 4th before Memorial Day so I can have my flag decor up through Flag Day and the 4th of July. So of course when I read on a couple blogs I follow about a 4th of July recipe linkup, I knew I had to join in!

(Check out these blogs for more recipes from this linkup: Nat Your Average Girl, Running From The Law, Meet the Sullivan's, Strawberry Swing and Other Things, This Woman Cooks, Everyday Love, Love and Life Simplified and Words About Waverly.)

I absolutely love a berry pie in the summer. The colors make it such a fun dessert for the 4th of July. And do you know what's even better than a berry pie for your 4th of July party? Miniature berry pies! Everybody knows that bite-sized food makes a party even more fun.

I used my strawberry pie recipe for this, and just used a mixture of berries instead. I prefer strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. You can use raspberries if you want, they're just not my fave.

You should note that the filling in this recipe is for a full-sized pie, usually deep dish. I only made 12 mini pies, but the filling could have made many many many more. You could also use this recipe for one 9-inch deep dish pie.

Mini Berry Pies

Ingredients:

Two 9-inch unbaked pie crusts

1 1/4 cups white sugar (if you like it a little sweeter then use 1.5 cups)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 cups of berries (mixture is your choosing)

2 tablespoons of butter

Mini pie tins of your choosing

Star cookie cutter for top crust

Biscuit cutter (not pictured)

Cut up berries to the size you want. If you're doing a full-sized pie, you can just quarter the strawberries. I decided to chop the strawberries and blackberries really small so I could fit as much fruity deliciousness in those tiny tins as possible.

Add all your fruit to a big bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the white sugar, flour, cornstarch, and cinnamon. Add your dry ingredients to your fruit in small batches, mixing as you go, so that the sugar/flour mixture is evenly distributed to all the berries.

Let your berries sit in the sugar/flour mixture for about 15 minutes while you get your pie tins ready.

Roll out your dough a little before you cut your circles. Yes, I used store-bought pie crusts because I am pregnant and I can. Making your own pie crusts is more than acceptable. 

I wanted to roll out the dough to be a little thinner because a heavy crust wouldn't really fit in my tin and isn't so desirable for a bite-sized dessert.

I used my biscuit cutters to cut the circles to use for my bottom crusts. I experimented with sizes and discovered that the biggest cutter actually worked the best. I automatically assumed I'd be using the smaller one, but I have terrible spatial reasoning, so clearly I was wrong. Don't forget to grease your tins before you put the bottom crust in if you want to be able to take them out of the tin.

At this point I tasted my berry mixture and determined the level of sweetness was perfect for my taste. I don't like really super sweet desserts, so if you do, then definitely add more sugar either when you're mixing your dry ingredients or at this step.

Chop up your two tablespoons of butter into little squares. I poured my berries into my tins and then topped with a small little pat of butter.

 

Roll out your top pie crust. I rolled out this top crust to be a little thinner too. I used the star cookie cutter to cut out stars for the top crust of my pies.

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 425. Keep an eye on them because the crust is thin and they're smaller, so they'll bake pretty fast.

Pull them out and voila! Let them cool completely before you remove them from their tins. They will settle as they cool and not be so messy.

Just out of the oven:

After cooling:

Happy 4th of July!

Mini Berry Pies

Ingredients:

Two 9-inch unbaked pie crusts

1 1/4 cups white sugar (if you like it a little sweeter then use 1.5 cups)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 cups of berries (mixture is your choosing)

2 tablespoons of butter

Mini pie tins of your choosing

Star cookie cutter for top crust

Biscuit cutter (not pictured)

Instructions:

1. Cut up your berries and add them all to a bowl. 

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the white sugar, flour, cornstarch, and cinnamon. 

3. Add your dry ingredients to your fruit in small batches, mixing as you go, so that the sugar/flour mixture is evenly distributed to all the berries.

3. Let your berries sit in the sugar/flour mixture for about 15 minutes while you get your pie tins ready.

4. Roll out your dough and cut your circles with either a round cookie cutter or a biscuit cutter. Grease your pie tins. Place bottom crust in tins.

5. Chop up your two tablespoons of butter into little squares. 

6. Pour berries into tins and then top with a small little pat of butter. 

7. Roll out your top pie crust. Use the star cookie cutter to cut out stars for your top crusts. 

8. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 425. Keep an eye on them because the crust is thin and they're smaller, so they'll bake pretty fast. Let them cool completely before you remove them from their tins and serve.

Yield: 14-16 mini pies

Altus AFB is the best base in the world! Literally.

You can't make this stuff up. Altus Air Force Base recently won the 2014 Commander in Chief's Installation Excellence Award! (If you want to get all military and acronym-y, it is generally referred to as the CINC IEA.)

Translation = the best base in the Air Force this year.

With such a high honor comes some serious cash for base improvements, which are desperately needed. The Altus Chamber of Commerce hosted a big party on base to celebrate the occasion, and in the spirit of finding fun, Scarlett and I had to attend.

We got there really early, so it looks totally empty from the picture, but I assure it was NOT. There was free lunch, bounce houses, a dunk tank, and music. They announced the new projects on base, which are actually very exciting. We're talking mini-golf and a splash pad, people. And remember how I hate the kids area in the gym? They're making improvements there too.

Unfortunately, two things happened that prevented me from properly documenting this with my camera phone. Scarlett was high on sugar from that morning's National Donut Day celebration and refused to eat her lunch. So she 1) ran around like a wild banshee and I could barely keep up; and 2) as it approached 1 p.m. (her nap time) she started throwing rocks around other kids. Time to leave.

Hooray for base improvements! If you need me next summer I'll be at the splash pad.

Transitioning to Twins

The first thing I did when the doctor told us we were having twins is laugh. The second thing I did was start thinking of all the things we were going to need to buy, get rid of, and change around our house.

This picture was taken approximately 17 minutes after being told we were having twins. Can you tell our heads are spinning? And can you tell it was Mustache March?

When we thought we were only having one baby, we thought we would just do some minor rearranging to make some room for a crib and changing table in our office. We could keep the majority of the baby items in Scarlett's room. Not much would change and we could go on with our merry lives.

My mind was racing with thoughts like, We have to buy another crib. And another infant car seat. I thought I bought all the big stuff  with the first kid and wouldn't need to do this again? Do I need a double or a triple stroller? Scarlett needs to learn to walk more because I'm not going to be able to carry her. What if I can't potty train her before the twins come? I can't have three kids in diapers. 

Todd and I went to lunch after our appointment and we just sat there looking at each other. We were honestly stunned for about a week and couldn't think or talk of anything else. I was going to hold out telling people until after the first trimester, but we couldn't keep this news in, so I outed myself on Facebook at 10 weeks.

Now that time has passed, the news has sunk in. True to our style, the only way we've been able to cope is by being proactive. I'm consolidating and downsizing and organizing like crazy. I've become obsessed with selling everything on our local classifieds page, because why should Goodwill get the money when I can? Yes, it's a total pain but I have to pay for my Sonic drinks somehow now that I have to pay for three kids in college at the same time.

You know how Kate Gosselin had sextuplets and got all kinds of free stuff like Gymboree clothes, nannies and helpers, and a tummy tuck? Maybe Sonic will take pity on me and award me free DDP for life.

National Donut Day

Remember how I love donuts? Remember how I craved them during my first pregnancy? Fortunately for my blood sugar, this time around I don't need a daily dose of donut. But that didn't stop me from partaking in National Donut Day again this year. 

Ham and cheese croissant, jelly roll, and a big DDP with easy ice. Probably excessive but HELLO -- it's a HOLIDAY. Yum.

Scarlett loves her glazed donut holes. I love that she loves them too, but I'll be honest, she's kind of a beast for the next few hours after eating all that sugar.

    

P.S. Dear Sonic -- please explain to me how this is "easy on the ice."