Revolutionary Pie, Pesto Dish and a Small Kitchen Fire

I have been busy since my last post. I have a dessert, a main dish and a minor emergency all to share with you. Here goes....

Two years ago, I decided to start a tradition: every Fourth of July, I would bake a blueberry pie. The last two years I made an amazing blueberry ginger pie. That was the plan this year until I saw a recipe for a Blueberry Slab Pie.

Now to me, that just sounds cool. Essentially it's a pie on a cookie sheet. Well then I start making rhubarb pies and discovered I really preferred a basic crumb topping compared to a top crust so I knew there would be adjustments come the Fourth.

So, I created 'Blueberry Pie Bars' out of two recipes and my own customization. It's Martha Stewart + Betty Crocker + Badger Girl. Essentially, the recipe is this:

Pie Crust- do the amount for two crusts but it will just be the bottom

Fruit filling- in this case 8 cups of fresh blueberry + the zest and juice of 1 lemon + 3 Tbsp Cornstarch + 1/2 cup sugar

Crumb Topping

I am convinced that people think taking a slice of pie requires more commitment than taking a bar.

So, this started with two ingredients- a 3/4 jar of pesto I wanted to use this week and these amazing purple potatoes we got last week from the CSA. I was torn- I knew I needed to use the pesto which to me generally means pasta but I also wanted to use the potatoes. I also had bought some organic chicken sausage that I knew would be good with the pesto based on previous experience. Driving back from the CSA pickup- it dawned on roasted potatoes, veggies, pesto and chicken sausage.

I bought zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, baby bella mushrooms and regular fresh mushrooms. When I got home, I got the veggies (sans mushrooms) ready and then tossed it with fat free chicken broth and white wine (I wish I had measurements but I seriously just poured the broth in to coat and splashed in some wine from my wine glass). We got some pearl onions so I cut them up and threw them in. I roasted them at 325 for 15 minutes and realized it was going to take forever so I turned it up to 500. After 15 minutes at 500, I turned them off and moved them down a few racks in the oven. 

Then I sprayed some Pam in the pan and sauteed the chicken sausage and mushrooms. A few minutes later, I tossed in the roasted veggies with 3/4 jar of pesto. Yumm!

And now, the emergency. Manatee and I have three pot holders. Two are so wimpy you need to use them together and one is old, faded and grayed but it works. I had turned the burner on to get it nice and hot, then turned to find the pan I wanted to use. When I returned to the electric stove, my poor little potholder was in flames. I screamed (Manatee wasn't home) and then grabbed it by the corner, got it into the sink and turned on the faucet. Crisis diverted. Not sure if I am going to divulge this little secret to Manatee as he thinks I am a little accident prone in the kitchen. Hopefully we'll get lots of new potholders for the wedding.