Picasso & Pie

I love the kismet of blogging. Case in point. I recently picked up this odd little cookbook. I liked the title. It seems that there was "The Ladies Social Library of Blue Hill" in Blue Hill, Maine. The ladies formed a library in 1796. In the 1950's they held fundraisers for the Library. One particular fundraiser involved rather "avant-garde" paintings. They entitled their fundraiser "Picasso & Pie." The "pie" was so popular that the Blue hill Buffet was established. A collection of recipes was gathered and later put into a nice hardback format. Just like the one I bought.

So, because I procrastinate extensively, I put the book into my pile of cookbooks to blog about. You can imaging my surprise when I was reading one of my favorite blogs, The Down East Dilettante. He had a quiz which included the following questions:

How are this unknown lost mid-century building...

Robert Motherwell...

Blueberry Pie...

Quincy Marketplace...

and my local library, all connected?

The answer was in an article in the New York Social Diary. When I clicked on the article I found EVERYTHING I would ever need to know about Picasso & Pie by Lynne Thompson and so much more.

Here is their signature dish from Lynne, The Down East Dilettante and Cookbook Of The Day:

Blueberry Ambrosia

2 1/2 quarts of water
thin cut peel of one lemon
small amount of tangerine rind (if possible)
small stick cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Simmer the blueberries, lemon rind (and tangerine rind) in the 2 1/2 quarts of water until the berries are soft.

Strain and put the berries through a sieve or puree them finely in ta blender. Return to strainer juice. Mix the 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in about 1/2 cup water and add to mixture.

Simmer 5 minutes.

Chill to iciness and serve with whipped cream which has been sweetened to taste. Dust the cream lightly with cinnamon.

Enjoy the recipe but not without The Down East Dilettante.