In June we had our 21 week ultrasound and this was the big appt where we found out the baby’s sex!
We decided to have a gender reveal party with our friends that night so I made a card for the ultrasound tech to fill out the baby’s gender in secret and seal in an envelope for us to open at the party.
Which will it be?!
Beautiful Baby Hood!
Before our friends arrived I baked two pies: one Blueberry Maple and another Raspberry Crumb.
We then planned to have a group of Ashton’s friends and fellow EOD soldiers over for dinner, pie, and the gender reveal! Both of the pie recipes are from this amazing cookbook: Pie by Ken Haedrich.
Blueberry-Maple Pie
Ingredients:
3 cups blueberries
1/4 cup pure maple syrup, preferably light or medium amber
2 tbs sugar
1 1/2 tbs cornstarch
1 tbs lemon juice
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 double crust flaky pie pastry
(recipe below or use 2 rolls of premade pie pastry dough)
Basic Flaky Pie Pastry
(makes enough for double crust 9 inch pie)
3 cups flour
1 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut in 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 cup cold water
Directions:
1. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter, tossing it with the flour. with a mixer on low speed, blend the butter into the flour until you have what looks like coarse, damp meal, with both large and small clumps. Add the shortening and repeat. Turning the mixer on and off, add ha;f of the water. Mix briefly on low speed. Add the remaining water, mixing slowly until the dough starts to form large clumps. Stop periodically to stir the mixture up from the bottom of the bowl.
2. Using your hands, pack the pastry into two balls as you would pack a snowball. Make one ball slightly larger than the other, this will be your bottom crust. Knead each ball once or twice, then flatten the balls into 3/4 inch thick disks on a floured work surface. Wrap the disks in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight before rolling.
3. On a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, roll the larger portion of the pastry into a 12 inch wide circle with a floured rolling pin. Invert the pastry over a 9 inch standard pie pan, center, and peel off the paper. Gently tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and let the overhang drape over the edge. Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Combine the blueberries and maple syrup in a medium sized bowl.
- Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl, then stir the mixture into the blueberries along with the lemon juice and cinnamon.
- Turn the filling into the chilled pie shell, smoothing the fruit with a spoon.
- Roll the other half of the pie pastry into a 10 inch circle on a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper.
- Moisten the outer edge of the pie shell with a pastry brush.
- Invert the pastry over the filling, center, and peel off the paper.
- Press the top and bottom pastries together along the dampened edge.
- Using a knife, trim the pastry flush with the edge of the pan.
- Pinch and push the pastry slightly down inside the pan so that it sits just below the edge.
- Doing so will protect the pastry, as it has a tendency to over brown.
- Poke several steam vents in the top of the pie.
- Place the pie on the center over rack and bake for 25 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and rotate the pie 180 degrees, so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward.
- Just in case, slide a large aluminum foil lined baking sheet onto the rack below to catch any spills.
- Continue to bake until the juices bubble thickly along the edge, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Remove and let cool.
Raspberry Crumb Pie
Ingredients:
Filling:
4 cups raspberries
1/2 cup plus 3 tbs sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 tbs seedless raspberry jam
Topping:
4 tbs quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
Crust:
1 premade roll of pie crust dough or 1 disk of Basic Flaky Pie Pastry (recipe above)
Serve with vanilla ice cream!
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- On a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, roll the pastry into a 12 inch circle with a floured rolling pin.
- Invert the pastry over a 9 inch pie pan, center, and peel off the paper.
- Tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and sculpt the edges into and upstanding ridge.
- Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Combine the raspberries, 1/2 cup of sugar, and the lemon juice in a large bowl.
- Toss gently to mix, then set aside for 10 minutes to juice.
- Meanwhile combine the remaining 3 tbs sugar and cornstarch and nutmeg in a small bowl. Stir the mixture into the fruit.
- Spread the raspberry jam inside the chilled pie shell.
- Scrape the filling into the shell, smoothing the fruit with a spoon.
- Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile make the topping: Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor. Scatter the butter over the dry mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Dump the crumbs into a large bowl and gently rub between your fingers to make large, buttery crumbs.
- Remove the pie from the oven and reduce the oven temp to 375 degrees.
- Add the quick cooking oats, sprinkling evenly over the pie. This will help soak up some of the juice and form a barrier for the crumb topping. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- Carefully dump the crumbs in the center of the pie and spread them evenly over the top with your hands. Return the pie to the oven, placing it so that the part that faced the back of the oven is now facing forward. Just in case, slide a large aluminum foil lined baking sheet onto the rack below to catch any spills. Continue to bake until the juices bubble thickly around the edge of the pie, about 25 minutes.
- Transfer pie to a wire rack and let cool.
Surprise Time!
Girl or Boy?
We leave the room and Rocky read the gender card secretly and then placed the correct pie on the table.
It’s Raspberry! We’re having a little girl!
Calling our family to tell them the news!
Thank you Rocky for opening the “secret envelope” and giving us such great news!
Thanks to all the 705th EOD guys who came to our Gender Reveal Party. It seriously amazed me how excited and supportive a group of guys were about this announcement! You all are awesome!
It’s a GIRL!
Awww I would have come to give you girl support! I love, love, loved the pictures! The joy on your face is beautiful! I find out on Thursday what the third and last Baby Jacobs will be. Sadly, Frank is in Fort Hood training! I've been thinking of what to do to reveal the gender 🙂 How are you feeling?
Hi Margo! I saw you're having a boy! Congrats!~ I know you must be so excited! Well, as you know Ava arrived last week…happy and healthy! My life has changed forever, she is so amazing. Let me know if you need anything!