Blueberry Pie & Bake for Good

A few weeks ago, I joined ten wonderfully talented bloggers at a Bake for Good event sponsored by King Arthur Flour. The mission behind the event was to bake—bake bread, rolls, brownies, and pies—and serve it alongside a meal at the Family Service Center in St. Paul, MN. When I was invited to this event, I immediately agreed. Volunteering my time and skills to help others is something I have grown up doing, something I wish to continue doing throughout my life.

As we kneaded dough and assembled pies, I searched inside to figure out what baking for good meant to me. I bake for others often, bringing cakes and pastries to work to share with my colleagues. The plate is often empty by lunch, with just a few crumbs to prove it was once full. I like to think that it brings a smile or two to someone's face, adding a little bright spot to an otherwise normal Monday morning. Is this baking for good?

When the next door neighbors at my childhood home had a baby, I made a batch of sugar cookies and decorated them to mimic baby buggies, bottles, and onesies. After I walked the plate over, I hoped they would fuel the late nights and act as a quick treat for any visiting guests. Is this baking for good?

I bake for the people I love in my life, finding time to make my boyfriend's favorite dessert when he needs a pick-me-up. A s'mores pie gets pulled out of the oven at least twice a year for my sister, for no other reason than she adores it. When the weather gets warm, I make a banana cake, because it reminds my father of summer (and it is a nostaglic memory for me too, as my mother made me the same cake when I was young). Is this baking for good?

After we served the families our meal, scrubbed down the kitchen, and stocked the freezer with leftover loaves of bread and pies, I had a moment to breathe and to dwell on the answers to these questions. Could all of these reasons be baking for good? I would like to believe so.

Baking for good is baking for joy. It is making a blueberry pie to share with your dearest friend for an afternoon snack. Baking for good is baking for need. It is bringing a meal or dessert over to a neighbor undergoing a new experience, whether the news is bad or good. Baking for good can come in dozens of forms, as long you put forth an effort to heal or to help or bring happiness to someone else.

For the blueberry pie above, I used my favorite pie dough recipe for the crust and this blueberry filling recipe.

Front Row: Jena, Little Rusted Ladle | Natasha, King Arthur Flour | Alice, Hip Foodie Mom | Shaina, Food for My Family | Erin, The Law Student's Wife
Center Row: Julia, King Arthur Flour | Kathryne, Cookie & Kate | Chef Susan Reid, King Arthur Flour | Stefani, Cupcake Project | Taylor, Greens & Chocolate | (me)
Back Row: Amanda, I Am Baker | Brenda, A Farm Girl's Dabbles | Jim, Little Rusted Ladle

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Classic Apple Pie

I have forgotten the smell of leaves. This is an admission of which I am not proud. I've been so focused on myself and my new job lately that I haven't taken time to really enjoy the world around me. With winter fast approaching, I feel like there is less time to appreciate this unique time of year.

Each day I see less of the sun. This week I arrived to work in the dark, the sun below the horizon, the sky a fading grey. The view outside my living room window has turned into a noisy and abrasive construction site. I cannot even see anything green—no grass, no trees, no leaves. The changing of the autumn colors feels completely hidden from me. I feel out of touch with the season.

This weekend I had plans to stay indoors and work, when my boyfriend told me to put down the books. We're going outside, he instructed me. You need some fresh air. He was right. I had not spent any real time outdoors for months. We packed ourselves into the car, granola bars in the console, camera bags at our feet. We found a state park near my new town, parked the car, and went exploring.

The air was crisp, yet holding onto a little warmth from earlier in the season. The ground was damp and soft, smelling rich and earthy from a morning rain. The leaves didn't crunch beneath my heels, but being surrounded by the vibrant colors was plenty for me. We walked the winding trails, overlooking lakes and small valleys. It was a source of rehabilitation for me, a calm moment in the whirlwind that is life.

Though I adore it, I have had apple pie only once or twice in my life. My first bite was at fourteen years old, sitting in a neighbor's kitchen, the reward for raking up a yard full of leaves. A dusting of stray leaves were left on the deck and the afternoon sun was golden, vivid details of a quiet moment. It seems such a chance memory now, remnants of a childhood past, but it has nevertheless stayed with me. And that pie, that pie has stayed with me too.

After returning home, pulling off shoes, and unbuttoning coats, I felt a new energy within me. Returning to the kitchen, I channeled it, creating the pie that happened upon my memories. Perhaps the best baking comes from outside inspiration.

This Classic Apple Pie will stand the test of time, but rarely last longer than an afternoon. Apples are peeled and sliced, coated with cinnamon and spice, and mounded freely into a pie plate. Depending on the sweetness of your apples, you can add more or less brown sugar, but I found that 1/2 cup was enough for my slightly sweet apples. Brushed with egg and a dusting of sugar before baking, the crust comes out golden and flaky. Serve with family and friends, to warm your home, and to create memories to share.

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Vanilla Bean Cardamom Peach Pie

Long, languid summer afternoons are quickly becoming fond memories as I find myself surrounded by textbooks and a mountain of responsibilities. For many reasons, I wish I could go back to those summer days, despite the heat swells that kept my apartment at a blistering degree. The transition between seasons always feels unexpected to me; no matter how much my brain anticipates its arrival, my body falls into a state of confusion. The hot air from summer days still plagues me as I walk around sweating in a pair of blue jeans and a sweater, questioning why I expected cooler temperatures just because the routines of fall had arrived.

Between the transitions, I get caught between the seasons, wearing skirts in chilled temperatures and turning on the oven when the warmth of summer hasn't gone.

Part of me is still drawn to summer, as I buy fresh berries for my breakfast, purposefully overlooking the rising price of the fruit. I bought my last bag of cherries for the season at the market last week, the moment hitting me unusually hard as I realized summer was truly coming to an end.

My sister, on the other hand, has been ready for fall for the last month. Ahead of the game, her new fall wardrobe has already been purchased, hanging in the closet as she anxiously awaits the temperatures to drop. Perhaps most of all, she has been looking forward to the flavors of autumn. Filling my inbox with pumpkin recipes I must make for her, she can't stop talking about eating her weight in pumpkin cheesecake.

In a way, the two of us complement one another—as I grasp onto the remains of summer, she is fully embracing the spice of fall. Together we are helping each other through the transition of the seasons.

Last weekend, I was trying to find a recipe that reflected this passage of weather and life. The morning was unusually cool and overcast, as I snuggled into the couch with a blanket around my shoulders and warm socks covering my toes. For the first time in months, the temperature had dropped in my apartment and the thought of turning on the oven finally seemed like a perfect idea. After months of looking for no-bake recipes or recipes with limited baking, I missed my oven and the warmth it could bring into bodies and homes.

I turned it on, rolled out pie dough on the counter top, and somewhere along the way this pie took form. The fresh fruit of summer and the spices of fall combine to create a pie for transitions. As if to live up to its purpose, the weather began to clear while the pie cooled on top of the oven. Just as I cut into the first piece, I heard a splash from someone jumping into a nearby pool.

While the weather (or your heart) may be between seasons, this pie will help to bridge the gap, creating a space where you can enjoy a slice of both at precisely the same time.

Vanilla Bean Cardamom Peach Pie is bright and fragrant, with a sugar sprinkled crust to hold in the flavor. Fresh, ripe peaches combine with aromatic cardamom and a hint of vanilla, baking in the oven until the fruit softens and bubbles in its own juices. You may choose to use whichever pie crust recipe you prefer (I've provided a link to my favorite below), but as long as it bakes up golden and flaky, you can do no wrong. Whether you are still longing for summer or waiting to embrace the flavors of fall, this pie will be suited just for you.

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