Blackberry-Peach Pie with Oatmeal Crumble Topping

I had some of my best gals over for dinner and used it as a great excuse to whip up a summer berry pie before the season quickly comes to an end (single tear). I found a fun and simple Blackberry-Peach Pie with Oatmeal Crumble Topping.

I made it the night before and then popped it back in the oven on warm while we ate dinner. By the time I brought it out it had been warming for a couple hours so the slices were soupier than I'd wanted but the flavor was still there. 

I'd also made homemade whipped cream (again, any excuse to use the KitchenAid) and naturally thought I should keep in the freezer since that's where Cool Whip goes. Guess what....Cool Whip must have weird chemicals that prevents it from freezing into a solid chunk - needless to say I had to serve the pie sans whipped cream topping. Lesson learned!

Fresh Summer Blackberries and Peach Slices - this looks good enough to eat just like this...

Oh but it gets even better with some Sugar, Cinnamon, Allspice and Lemon zest!

Topping: Oats, Brown Sugar, Butter & Cinnamon

I was left with 1/2 a pie to polish off over the next several nights - hey, I'm not one to waste!

Lemon Chess Pie

I attempted my first Lemon Chess Pie back in early August with a recipe I found on www.tasteandtellblog.com. I'm not a huge fan of custardy type foods, dislike creme brûlée, pudding, flan, etc but I decided as hopeful baker I should at least master the skill, plus I do love an excuse to whip out the new KitchenAid! So here I went:

The crust turned out great, light and flaky! I followed the recipe for a 9" pie but the filling seemed a little shallow and wasn't as smooth as I thought it would be, however never having had a Lemon Chess Pie it's hard to say how successful this was - but I can certainly say it was not a failure. I'll have to go out to the nearest bakery now and get a piece for a comparison:)

Labor Day: Another Berry Pie - in Jacksonville

I went to visit Jill in Jacksonville over Labor Day Weekend with my Mom, Dad and Page. She and Andy prepared a delicious dinner of steak, mashed potatoes, asparagus and rolls but dessert was provided moi! I landed around 6pm and quickly got into action. My Mom traveled from Roanoke with her Food Processor, Jill went grocery shopping during the week and I traveled with my tapioca (made it through airport security after getting its own special scan). I was busy preparing the dough while my Mom and Dad got the house tour, Page arrived later so I got the tour on the 2nd shift. Jill didn't have a rolling pin so I used a glass to roll out the dough, surprisingly easy (or I've just gotten so good at it). I was spoiled by getting to work in a large kitchen.

Doing the Dough

There's the rolling glass and look at all that counter space I got!
Pie: Strawberry-Blueberry-Blackberry Double Crust Pie

Here's Jill putting finishing touches on the mashed potatoes but you can catch a glimpse of the finished pie cooling in the background.

There she is.