Concord Grape Pie

     I made this pie because there were several bunches of grapes in my mom’s refrigerator, and she had convinced me to stay another couple of days. I sort of wish I’d just eaten the grapes as they were. But I guess I would’ve gotten around to this pie eventually, and I can’t imagine eating the whole thing alone or giving it away to friends I wish to see often. My mom offered to freeze it and eat it – over the years.

     The exact opposite happened with this pie as with the cherry pie. The crust was wonderful, but not so much the filling. I made 4/5 of the recipe instead of 2/3, so I had plenty of dough to work with, and even some left over. I didn’t rest the dough to the max, but I added the baking powder (resulting in a nice, slight aeration) and turned up the AC before working the dough. And the crust came out beautifully! All flaky and crumbly – the best crust I’ve ever had. However, the part of the top crust with the grape design ended up a bit soggy (as apparent in the picture) because the juices bubbled over and inundated the center. I foresaw this happening, but couldn’t think of any way to forestall it.

     The filling, on the other hand, was… strange. While baking, and even while simmering, the grapes exuded a sort of soapy smell, which I hoped was coming from my just-washed hair (um, no). Once tasted, it was quite sour, but not in a pleasant way. Perhaps it was just the taste of unfamiliarity. Or too much residual pesticide (but what does pesticide taste like)? Or maybe I messed up somewhere, or used the wrong grapes, or too many of them? Or maybe it turned out exactly the way it was supposed to, and I just don’t like grape pie:P Whichever way around, I ended up scraping off most of the filling and munching on the crust like biscuits dipped in soured jam. I hope that I get the crust and the filling right soon.