Old-Fashioned Blueberry Recipes

By Mia Freneaux
    It's blueberry season, and in homage to the good old days, here are some old-fashioned blueberry recipes- from our house to yours.

Great-great-great Grandmother Rebecca Pinkerton Bers' Blueberry Deep-dish Pie
1 3/4 c all purpose flour
1/2 c sugar
Pinch salt
Mix together, cut in 1/2 stick softened butter. Rub between palms til dough is sand-consistency.
Break 1 small egg into measuring cup, adding enough cream to make 1/3 c. Add 1 t vanilla, beat well. Pour into flour mixture, mix til dough forms a ball. Roll between sheets of waxed paper til big enough to cover pie plate.
Place an oven-proof cup upside down in pieplate. Mix 6-8 c washed blueberries, 6 T sugar and a dash of ground cloves. Place in pieplate. Place dough over pieplate. Crimp over edge of plate with fork, prick center of crust. Bake at 400 degreesfor 10 minutes, reduce heat to 300, bake an additional 25 minutes.

Grandmother Maria Akimov-Peretz' Steamed Blueberry Pudding
1 1/4c all purpose flour, sifted with 2 t baking powder and 1/4 t salt. Reserve 1 T mixture. Cream 1/4 c butter with 1/2 c sugar. Add 1 egg, beat until light. Add 1 t grated lemon peel. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternating with 1/2 c milk, beat well  till blended.  Coat 1 c blueberries with reserved flour mixture, fold into mixture.  Heavily grease 1 quart pudding mold. Spoon the batter into the mold. Cover with a lid or a pleated greased sheet of foil tied securely with string.  Place the mold on a rack set in the bottom of a pan.  Pour boiling water into the pan until it comes three-quarters the way up the side of the mold. Cook over a medium heat for about 1-1½ hours or until a knife or skewer inserted into the center of the pudding comes out clean.  Add water as needed. Loosen around edges with knife and turn out on plate.