Homemade Huckleberry Pie Recipe

If you know me, which....you may or may not....you know that I LOVE making (and eating) pies...Usually, I only make pies for holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter...) so on the off chance that I have the opportunity to make one for no special reason, I get excited :-).  My specialty pie has been apple, using the recipe out of the good ole fashion red Betty Crocker cookbook, but here we have a first for me...Huckleberry Pie. My fiance and I went up into the mountains of Western Montana and picked a bunch of huckleberries, in hopes to get enough to make a pie (being late in the season, we weren't sure what to expect).  

I originally got a recipe from http://blogs.kcrw.com/goodfood/2010/08/huckleberry-pie/ but I adjusted it slightly.  Here is the recipe I used:

First, you need to get your pie crust ready.  You can either use pre-made shells or make your own.  We forgot to buy shells (because, personally, I think making your own shells is a royal pain in the butt...even if they taste better).  So I appointed my lovely fiance to read the recipe for pie crust and gave him that task...he was successful :-).  When your pie crust is done, put it in the fridge until you're ready to use it.

Ingredients: 

5-6 cups fresh huckleberries

1Tbsp lemon juice

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 Tbsp quick tapioca (I was confused at this, so I found a box of tapioca by "Minute" brand to be used for pie fillings and whatnot, and prayed it would work---it did)

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground ginger

butter to "dot" the filling before putting the crust on

Instructions:

First things first: wash, rinse, de-stem and de-leaf your huckleberries.

In a small bowl, mix together the following: white sugar, brown sugar, tapioca, cinnamon, and ginger.

In a larger bowl, combine huckleberries with lemon juice.

Add the dry sugar mix to the huckleberry mix and stir until well mixed.  Let sit and "marinate" for 45 minutes.

Next, fill your crust with the huckleberry mixture and dot the top with butter, as seen above.  Place the other shell on top and crimp the edges together.  Cut slits into shell to allow for breathing.

 Preheat oven to 425*.  Put foil on the edges and bake for 15 minutes.  After that, lower the temp to 375*, take off foil, and bake for an additional 25 minutes or until crust is browned and juice is bubblin'.