My new favorite pie is the hand pie. In this case a berry fruit hand pie.

Really, aren’t these just another name for a turnover? But  hand pie sounds more romantic, more childlike, and aren’t they something everyone would love?  

The best thing, in my opinion, about berry hand pies is that you can eat more than one, because they aren’t as big as a slice of a pie.

And of course you can always take one for later which isn’t so easy with a slice of pie.

Berry Hand pies…

make me think of farmers markets and state fairs where the thought of being a pie judge must surely be a treat.

Pie makes me think of blue ribbons and flaky crusts which hand pies have plenty of.

Lovers of crust rejoice because these berry fruit hand pies give you a better ratio of crust to fruit. REALLY.

Which leads me to tell you that I really suck at pie crust.

I’ve tried food processor pie crusts, pastry blender pie crusts, vegetable shortening pie crusts, refrigerated pie crusts, oil pie crusts, butter pie crusts and frozen pie crusts.

I am never happy with my pie crust, though everyone always tells me how good it is.

I though, want a perfect, truck stop, pie crust. The flaky, thin, golden kind.

Kind of the way I’d like my body, well, except for the flaky part.

And how is it that every recipe for pie crust is always titled, “No Fail Pie Crust”? Isn’t that automatically setting us up for failure?

Cream Cheese Pie Crust is a winner!

All right already. I resorted to cream cheese.

It works. I’m not telling you it’s perfect, but I’m telling you it makes pie crust pretty, pretty easy.

And it is exceptional for repairs. I always need to repair my crust a lot.

But hand pies are easy to repair and besides a little juice seeping out makes them look pretty. Well, that’s my opinion and I’m standing by it.

I used Martha Stewart’s pie crust recipe. It works well for these.

The cream cheese gives the crust a salty, rich taste which balances the fruit filling. A winner in my book.

Plus, it’s easy to roll out and only needs to chill about 30 minutes. She recommends a food processor.

I was lazy and did it by hand. I’ll give you her version, but know that as long as you have a pastry blender, you can do it by hand.

There are some things a girl must know. A girl must know that her shoes and bag don’t have to match.

A girl must know that navy and camel are now  acceptable colors of nail polish and that glitter reigns.

A girl must know that you never cancel a hair or nail appointment.

A girl must know that you never say yes the first time you are asked on a date.

The proper response to said question is “Let me check my calendar”, whereupon you immediately pull out your IPhone, check your calendar and then say, “It looks like I’m available.”

A girl must also know how to make a pie crust, but then so should a boy, for that matter.

And why should one know this? Because pie is so real, so wholesome, and by God, so American!