Berries from Heaven

Who knew....we have a mulberry tree in our yard. You'd think we might know, seeing as how this is the seventh year that we have lived in this house, but we didn't. Not until this weekend. I'd seen a few berries in the yard earlier this week and since I knew that they didn't fall from the dogwood tree I was standing under, I figured some bird must have dropped them. But Friday night Jim pointed out the tree that they were falling from. After a quick taste test (they tasted good and I was pretty certain that they might possibly be something like a mulberry, maybe) I realized that the yard was full of them. Twice a day, I can fill about two of these little bowls. I collected enough between Friday night and Saturday to make a fresh pie. I used this recipe, conveniently enough, the first one that pops up when you Google "mulberry pie". I heeded the comments added at the bottom and only used about a cup of sugar (probably could have been even less) and I threw in a titch more flour. Pie crust was Martha's recipe. This is the first time I've made a pie crust and not used the Crisco recipe, which is how my Great Aunt Eleanor taught me how to make pie crusts. That stuff just really grosses me out, so I thought I'd try something new this time. I even did like Martha does on TV and only rolled in one direction, rotating the dough instead. The end result........


Fresh from the yard, mulberry pie! And the good news is, it's yummy! Jim was mortified when I ate the berries from the yard and looked quite disappointed when he asked what kind of pie was sitting on the kitchen counter and I told him it was mulberry, but I'm thinking that when he sinks his teeth into it (if he's not too scared), he's going to like what he tastes. Now I'm all obsessed with getting every single berry up off the ground and get all panicked when the girls follow me around and, horror of all horrors, step on the berries. I wish they would rain from the sky like Amy's mangoes! I've already spotted two more mulberry tress on my street that are right by the road, and I'm wondering what neighbors would think if they found me in the road picking their berries off the ground. Perhaps a little chit chat on my part first. I bet if I offered them a slice of pie they'd let me pick till my hearts content!