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What is it about baking a pie that strikes fear into the heart of even accomplished home cooks and, ahem, food bloggers alike? A flaky pie crust is a lovely showcase for summer’s ripest berries and fruit, but it’s that pesky crust that seems to spoil the best pie-making intentions. I’m guilty myself of scrapping plans for a pie to make a cobbler or crisp instead. Even if you have a trusty crust recipe on hand, a pie must be planned for — with the requirement to chill the dough before rolling it out, it simply cannot be left to the last minute. (And then you’re supposed to let it cool before serving — rather than immediately spooning it out and scooping a spoonful of vanilla ice cream on top.)

I dragged lured the whole family out to the Bloomingdale Farmers Market on Sunday to secure the elusive sour cherries* for pie baking. (Reid’s Orchard at the market is one of my favorite sources of summer berries and fruits.) Seriously, the mad rush for sour cherries at the more trafficked DC markets is even to put anyone off baking. Not so at Bloomingdale, where the boy observed the modest line at the berry stand and said, “Let’s come back to this one,” before continuing down to pick an array of summer squashes from Garner’s. We selected hot dogs from Truck Patch for grilling, pastries from Panorama Bakery to consume right there (with iced coffee drinks from Big Bear Cafe next door), and some cheese from Keswick Creamery (and chocolate pudding … for the husband). After cooling down on Big Bear’s patio — where the boy joined several other children in planting himself under the mister — we picked up a pint of Dolcezza gelato to go as well.

But back to the pie… Pie crust is nothing complicated — butter (or lard), salt, sugar, flour, water. Use cold butter and work quickly, and chill the dough thoroughly before rolling it out. Rolling a pie crust is an essential skill  for any child to learn, so sprinkle a generous amount of flour onto your clean counter or cutting board and put them to work — and then, should it turn out less photogenic than you’d hoped, you can just inform your guests that your little one made the crust. 😉

Now the good thing about pie is that once you conquer your fears of crust-making, the filling is endlessly adaptable. A couple (~4) cups of berries or fruit, 2 tablespoons corn starch, 1/2-cup or so of sugar, squeeze of lemon juice and pinch of fresh herbs or spices. (I like nutmeg with cherries, a tiny bit of rosemary or thyme with peaches, and of course, cinnamon with apples.) Toss them together and pour into the prepared shell, dot the top with butter and arrange your top crust — or strips, latticed if you want to get fancy — over. Crimp the edges (again, no need to get fancy — a quick pinch will do), cut a few slices for venting, and bake. (400 degrees for about an hour, covering edges with a strip of foil to prevent over-browning.) Voila! Now just try to resist slicing into it until it’s cooled.

It’s #PieParty today, a virtual pie bake-fest created by GlutenFree Girl, and more than a thousand bloggers are conquering crust-phobia to share their pie creations.

When pie baking plans go awry (read: kids or life in general get in the way of baking time), here’s a fall-back strategy: pit the cherries (or otherwise wash/prep the fruit you have on hand), toss them with the cornstarch/sugar/spices, and pour into a gallon-sized freezer bag. Stick it in the freezer until another day… and enjoy almost-instant pie.

* Wondering what else to do with sour cherries? Try homemade bourbon cherries (for the grown ups, of course), or pickle them for a wonderful accompaniment to cheese. If time is less of an issue for you, here’s a recipe to put up sour cherry pie filling for winter, via the domestic guru Mrs. Wheelbarrow.

After the disappointing pea harvest last year — when my peas wilted in the summer heat as soon as they began to bear pods — I found a variety described as “heat tolerant” this time around. And it paid off, as we left for a 10-day vacation in the midst of a upper-90s heat wave, and returned to … peas! The boy was so excited to pluck the first pod and asked if he could eat it right away. Of course I said yes, and was rewarded with, “These are THE BEST PEAS I’ve ever eaten!” (A ha! Finally the frozen-peas-only decree has been lifted. At least for a day.)

Over In the Kitchen with Audrey, little superstar Audrey (leader of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Group of the Week — congrats!) had her own pea epiphany this week.

The foodie bebe is already showing signs of being a pea enthusiast like her brother, but just to be safe we make sure to read this cute book as often as possible: Baby Max and Ruby Counting Peas —>

If you’ve harvested (more than one) pea(s) from your garden, try this chilled asparagus and pea soup with mint.

Your turn! If you’d like to share a photo of your kids in the garden for a future “Worm Wednesday” post, please e-mail it to foodietots@gmail.com, &/or leave a link to a recent gardening post in the comments and show us what your kids are growing!

This is the official first day of summer (is anyone else tired of explaining to their kids that it isn’t quite summer yet after June 1? can’t we just align the seasons to the calendar already??) — and the biggest item on our family’s summer checklist: eat outdoors. We may have to string some bug netting around the yard to do so (grr mosquitoes!), but picnics by the river, dinner in the backyard, fresh berries on the farm and cook-outs are definitely in order.

the boy prepares to challenge mosquitoes ... with a bat, naturally

Yesterday when I arrived to pick the boy up from school, he was busy making a popsicle with black and red blocks. “Strawberry and burnt marshmallow” flavor, he explained. I realized he’s never roasted marshmallows before, and started trying to explain the concept of s’mores to him. (And mentally added s’mores roasting to our weekend agenda!)

And if you need more ideas of things to do outdoors this summer, here are two:

The Great American Backyard Campout is this Saturday, June 25 — sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation and REI. Visit their website for events near you or just camping tips you can use this summer. … Speaking of REI, when we stopped in to buy our summer sandals, I was delighted to find this nifty — and free — Kids’ Adventure Journal to help little ones document their summer adventures. (And spur them off the computer and out doors!) If you don’t have an REI store near you, you can download the journal from their website.

KaBOOM is launching a Park-a-Day challenge — asking parents and kids to visit as many parks as they can this summer. Why? To get your kids active, of course, but also to find new playspaces in your neighborhood while helping KaBOOM create a map of parks and playgrounds and highlight areas where playspaces are lacking or in need of improvement. Visit their website to find a playspace or submit your reviews.

The foodie tot is already getting excited about this. “Will we go to a playground we’ve never been to before?” he asked eagerly. (And yesterday, “Can we go to a swimming pool we’ve never been to before?” Why not!)

Stay tuned for some Foodie Tots’ picnic-friendly recipes. In the meantime, what’s your favorite thing to eat outdoors?

There’s a lot going on at the Foodie Tots’ house these days. The foodie tot himself graduated from Pre-K on Friday. We hosted a small post-graduation brunch on Saturday, there are relatives in town and we’re about to head out of town on the first of several summer trips. Throw in work and all the other more mundane items on the never-ending “to do” list and we’re lucky if we even remember to eat.

On busy days like these it’s nice to have a few basic recipes to fall back on. My protein-packed “Peach Power Smoothies” is one such recipe — a great breakfast for Meatless Monday and any other hectic day of the week.

Visit Babble.com for the recipe — along with 49 other family-approved recipes from Babble’s “Top 100 Food Bloggers.”

Did you make it to the farmers market this weekend? Around here, cherries are beginning to appear, and garlic scapes, summer squash and squash blossoms have been spotted as well. Visit us on Facebook to share what you found at the market this week.

Today’s gardening tots are the adorable Audrey and Mo, ages 3.5 and nearly-2, of In the Kitchen with Audrey. The garden is a wonderful way to show kids where their food comes from. But where do lamps come from?

Audrey’s mom writes, “I had no idea when planning to have children with a witty, sarcastic certified genius that he would convince our children that light bulbs grow lamps. I think he decided to do it on a lark. We were finishing dinner when he announced his intentions to the girls. Our neighbor came to watch. It was during the time when we were putting in our real garden and I think he just wanted to be a part of something.”

What else are they growing? lettuce, zucchini, celery, tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, and assorted herbs.

On gardening with kids: “Audrey loves to pick the leaf lettuce and serve it for dinner. I love that they are learning where food comes from.”

Be sure to visit In the Kitchen with Audrey to see what they’re cooking. (And thanks, Audrey’s Mom!)

Your turn! If you’d like to share a photo of your kids in the garden for a future “Worm Wednesday” post, please e-mail it to foodietots@gmail.com, &/or leave a link to a recent gardening post in the comments and show us what your kids are growing!