The Carefree Gourmet
by Joyce McCombs  - September 30, 2004

Blueberry Pie Champion - Ruth Abbott

Alaska State Blueberry Pie Champion Ruth Abbott didn’t mince words when I asked how she reacted to winning the coveted title. “FINALLY…AT LAST!” she told me with a laugh. She’s been trying hard to win for years, and figures this was either her seventh or eighth attempt to bring home the honors.

When asked what prompted her to enter the contest, Ruth replied that she’s been involved in the contest in many ways in the past and just got a notion that one year it would be her turn to bring home the golden pie pan. She is a past superintendent of the pie contest, and her daughter Beth won three years ago.

Ruth actually won second place a while back, but has never taken home top honors. And the year a winner who lived out of town won the championship, she became even more determined to make sure the title of best pie baker stays in a Delta kitchen.

Ruth also said that she knew it was a poor year for berries and that there might not be too many entries, so she figured she’d give it a shot.

Friday before the contest she went in search of blueberries and picked what she could find during that very long day. She still wasn’t sure she should enter, but her family encouraged her, even though it was late when she finally got home with her berry bucket. Ruth said “they didn’t mind me heating up the house and staying up late – they kept telling me I’d have the winning pie if I’d just make one ”

She says she knew when the pie didn’t boil over that it could be “the one”, even though she hadn’t made one since last year’s entry, which unfortunately got squished on the way to the exhibit hall. While she was waiting for the judging to finish, she wandered over to watch the cowboy mounted shooting and just decided to not even worry about the pie contest. About 2:15 on her way back through the Fairgrounds, she remembered to go over and find out who won. Her family and friends gave her a resounding cheer since they knew how many years she had been wanting to take home the prize. She was delighted to find out her winning pie went for $40 during the pie auction, though we can’t seem to track down the person who bought it to find out how it tasted. (Leave me a message at 895-5115 if you know and I’ll write about it here next time )
Ruth told me that it was “almost worth the wait”, since in honor of this year’s silver anniversary of the Deltana Fair, the engraved pie plate is silver and is one of a kind. “It’s going to look great in my kitchen” she said with evident pride.

The next part of this yearly interview is always tricky, since I try and get as much information for you about the pie as I can the winning bakers are always very secretive about their exact recipe. However, Ruth did share a couple of her insights regarding berries, and a wonderful recipe that we’ll get to in a minute.

Ruth reminds us that there are lots of variables when making any kind of berry pie, including berry juiciness, the crust recipe, the type of thickener used and even individual oven quirks. She prefers juicy filling, but noted in the contest rules that the filling should hold up fairly well for slicing and not run all over the plate, so she had to compensate a bit for that. She did advise that she used cornstarch as a thickener, and that she cooked the filling first, which I thought was brilliant. She said it seems to hold up a better during the actual cooking of the pie, and the bottom crust doesn’t get so soggy.

As for crust, Ruth says she’s made so many pies over the years that she has her favorite crust recipe down pat, and that she worries most about the filling boiling over and ruining the top crust, rather than the actual taste of the crust.

Ruth’s expertise really comes from making lots of blackberry pies and I was amazed to find out her family really doesn’t care for blueberry pie at all. She said it’s kind of hard to practice, when nobody wants to eat the practice pies at her house. (I’m sure we could scare up some volunteers ) And besides, with berries so scarce this year, she didn’t feel she could afford to waste any on trial pies, but just saved her efforts for her winning creation.

Although she graciously declined to give us her actual pie recipe, Ruth happily agreed to give us one of her favorite desserts and advises it can be made with either blueberries or blackberries. It’s a three-layer delight, full of surprises, just like Ruth herself.

Ruth’s Triple Blueberry Dessert

The trick to this luscious sounding treat is to make sure each layer is cooled before you put the whole works together to cool one last time. Ruth says make sure you cut at least 2” squares per serving, although I heard a rumor some people at the Abbott house prefer 4” squares.

Preheat oven to 350 and butter or spray a 9 x 13 pan
Crust
2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 to 2 cups chopped walnuts
Mix well and crumble into bottom of pan
Bake 350 for 20 minutes, set aside to cool
Filling
Whip until light:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
8 ounce cream cheese
Add 1/4 cup lemon juice and mix well.
Chill until set, then spread over cooled crust.
Top Layer
1 pint fresh or frozen blueberries or blackberries
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Mix sugar and cornstarch together, then stir into berries and cook over medium low heat until mixture is thick and bubbly. Set aside until completely cool.
Spread the cooled berry mixture over the cream cheese layer, then return dessert to refrigerator and chill well. Ruth insists you must serve this with ice cream or whipping cream, and I’m not going to argue

Carefree Congratulations and many thanks to Ruth Abbott, the 2004 Alaska State Blueberry Pie Champion

Index to Carefree Gourmet Articles

Sourdough Sensations June 29, 2007

Kitty Treats June 29, 2007

Dog Treats April 20, 2007

Sandwich Plan March 23, 2007

Carefree Wacky Ingredients March 8, 2007

Homestead Hearth January 25, 2007

Carefree Cooking 101 January 11, 2007

Holiday Punch December 23, 2006

Holiday Treats December 12, 2006

Thanksgiving II November 20, 2006

Standby Favorites October 16, 2006

Cabbage October 11, 2006

Apples September 22, 2006

Kids Cook July 6, 2006

Wacky Tips June 8, 2006

Graduation May 11, 2006

African Cuisine April 13, 2006

A Bit of Irish March 23, 2006

Crazy for Carrots March 9, 2006

February Vacation February 23, 2006

Easy Budget January 12, 2006

Christmas Treats December 22, 2005

Sweet Surprises December 8, 2005

Turkey Times  November 22, 2005

Grand Champions - Part 2 - October 13, 2005

Janet Boyer September 22, 2005

Grand Champions September 5, 2005

Blueberries  August 12, 2005

Halibut and Zukes July 28, 2005

Orange Juice July 14, 2005

Happy Birthday June 30, 2005

Honey June 9, 2005

Picnic Dishes May 26, 2005

Celebration Salads May 12, 2005

Kraft Foods April 21, 2005

Shrimp April 7, 2005

Carry on Airline snacks March 25, 2005

Sandwiches March 10, 2005

Back from Vacation February 24, 2005

Super Bowl Snack Attack  January 14, 2005

Ginger Snaps December 29, 2004

Christmas Memories - December 12, 2004

Thanksgiving November 23, 2004

Glen and Meat  October 29, 2004

Blueberry Pie Champion  September 30, 2004

Fair Winners  September 2, 2004

Glen's Knives June 11, 2004

Aunt Aggie Tells All... May 13, 2004

Crazy About Catsup April 29, 2004

Carefree Clearance Special April 8, 2004

Seattle Adventure March 26, 2004

Vegas, part 2 March 12, 2004

Vegas Wind February 12, 2004

Casserole Bonanza January 11, 2004

No Fuss Dishes  December 19, 2003

Fake and Bake Christmas  December 11, 2003