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I love pie!

It's such a happy food, don't you think? I even like to say pie. Go ahead and say 'pie' right now.

Right now. Out loud.

Say it a couple of times for good measure.

Pie.

Pie pie.

Pie, pie, pie, pie, PIE!

Can't do it without smiling a little bit, can you? Hell, try just thinking about pie without cracking at least half a grin. Impossible.

And so, because Sunday was Pi Day, I decided remedy the fact that I had heretofor never baked a pie and whip a few up. The results were nothing short of a-freaking-mazing.

I-Love-a-Blueberry, I-Hug-a-Blueberry Pie

for the full effect, listen to this song on repeat while baking

4 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup warm water

3 tablespoons tapioca granules

1 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

1 Easy-Peasy Pie Crust (recipe below)

Mix the first five ingredients together in a large bowl. Let sit, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the pie crust.

Easy-Peasy Pie Crust

makes 2- 9 or 10 inch pie crusts

2 1/2 cups + 1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 cup light olive oil (use the best quality olive oil you can)

1/4 cup cold water

Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl.

Add the oil and water and mix with a fork until combined.

Divide the dough in two. Roll each ball between two pieces of wax paper until large enough for your pie dish.

Place one crust in the bottom of your dish, trimming the edges.

Slice the other crust into strips and lattice the top until it looks like pie.

(This is about the time I was hip-hip-huzzah-ing in my empty kitchen. I was pretty excited about the fact that my pie looked like pie.)

Pre-heat the oven to 375-425 degrees (my oven in finicky). Line the middle oven rack in with tinfoil (when the filling bubbles over, you won't have to clean your oven!) and set the pie on top. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the juices are bubbling.

For my St. Patrick's Day Feast (full story coming soon!) I made a cherry pie (same recipe as above, subbing in two packages of frozen cherries [thawed, with juices] for the blueberries and water) and cut the top crust with a heart-shaped cookie-cutter.

They look sort of like four-leaf clovers, no?

For Roomie's impending trip to South Carolina, I'll be making a strawberry-rhubarb pie. I have a graham cracker crust (Funny thing: Graham crackers - not vegan. Graham cracker crumbs - not vegan. Pre-made, Kroger-brand, graham cracker crust - vegan) just begging to be filled with some sort of vegan chocolate and/or peanut butter mousse.

Pie, pie, pie, pie, PIE!!