Carl Lueck's Blueberry Pie

Who can resist a blueberry pie - spring, summer, fall or winter? I know I can't, so when I saw Carl Lueck's Facebook Post on June 15, 2026, with a picture of his Blueberry Pie to be served that night, I immediately asked for the recipe for TI Life. I am so glad I did as it is a perfect addition to our TI Life Recipes.

Remember it was two years ago when TILife’s copy editor, Elspeth Naismith, presented "Call for Recipes!" The article showed a tea towel that proudly hangs in her kitchen and provides the ingredients for a "Traditional 1000 Islands Shore Dinner," written by the late Les Cook, a renowned Canadian fishing guide. Elspeth suggested that our River communities have many farmers, restaurants, storekeepers, and, yes, both year-round and summer residents who have favourite recipes with special River meanings. Since then, we have published some fantastic culinary suggestions!

Carl Lueck's Blueberry Pie

There are several good pie crust recipes, so pick one you like. I have gotten lazy – I use Pillsbury’s refrigerated pie dough because I’ve found that the store brands have not been as good. My pie recipe is a combination of existing recipes and ideas that I find work well for me – it makes a pie that is piled high with blueberries! For me, fresh blueberries are always the best, when they’re available, but if you use frozen berries, add an extra cup and mash half of them to release the pectin.

Good Luck!

Ingredients:

7 Cups of Fresh Blueberries [If using frozen berries add an extra cup, as the frozen berries do not compress as much as fresh. Also if using frozen berried mash about 1/2 of the berries to release the pectin. for me, fresh is best when available.]
3/4 cup sugar plus 1 heaping Tbsp
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 egg, beaten

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. If using fresh berries, wash and dry them on a towel. For frozen berries, as noted above, mash about 1/2 of them to release their pectin.
2. Combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon, then add the berries and mix well to get a good coating of the sugar/flour mixture on all the berries.
3. Roll out the dough for the bottom crust and transfer to a 9 inch pie plate. Brush it with about 1/2 of the egg wash, to help keep the crust from getting soggy.
4. Pour berry mixture into the pie plate, and distribute the cut butter on top of filling, then sprinkle the top of the filling with the lemon juice.
5. Cover with the top crust, crimping to seal the edges. Use the remaining egg wash on the top crust, to give it a nice golden color as it bakes. Cut 6 – 8 slits in the crust and one in the center to vent steam. I recommend putting on a pie ring or using a 2 inch strip of aluminum foil to cover the edges.
6. Bake for 30 minutes at 425°F, then remove the pie ring/foil and bake for another 20 – 25 minutes, until filling is starting to bubble. Let cool so the filling will set a little, before serving.

By Carl Lueck

Carl Lueck proudly lists his occupation as Happily Retired. Islanders will recognize him for his many contributions as a past member and president of the board of the Thousands Islands Land Trust. He is proud to say he has 2 sons, 5 grand children, 3 great grand children, and his summer home is in Alexandria Bay in the American Narrows. Form Mid May to Mid October you can find him in the water swimming or on the water rowing his skiff the “Rowed Scholar”. In the winter he and his wife Tammy live in Mount Dora Florida.

Illustration by Marie-Ann Erki

Marie-Anne Erki is a Kingston artist and emeritus professor of civil engineering at the Royal Military College. Marie-Anne initially considered a career in architecture, but her love of mathematics led her to become a structural engineer. She says, "At a time before computer assisted drawing (CAD), both disciplines required a huge amount of freehand and mechanical drawing. After a quarter of a century of great fun as a structural engineer, I decided to pursue painting full time." We at TI Life are fortunate that Marie-Anne has agreed to be our Official Illustrator, and you will find her work in many of our articles. You can also see her works at marieanneerkipaintings.blogspot.com/