When I started my cooking classes at Northern Michigan University, we had weekly sessions focusing on a specific cooking topic. One of the weeks, we concentrated on baking.

Baking has never been a strong suit of mine, and during baking week my lack of baking skills was apparent. I had to make a pumpkin pie from scratch.

Not too hard I thought. I started with the crust. My crust was too dry and then, before I knew it, my crust was stuck all over my hands and impossible to roll out. When I asked my teachers what I could do to fix it they gave me this look like “honey you really messed this up.” After pinching and patching the pie crust into a pan, I started on the pie filling.

The pie filling took me forever, the filling smelled good and was the proper color. All was good until I placed it in the oven. The pie oozed over the sides of the pie pan and burned onto the bottom of the oven. I stayed after class, cleaned my oven and decided I was not going to make another attempt at another pie for a long time.

During the summer, I decided to take a baking basics class with the teacher who witnessed my pie explosion. All I could think of, was please don’t make me bake a pie again. Luckily we started out pie day slowly, with a basic pie dough.

Thankfully mine turned out well, which was not the case just one short semester prior. After our crusts firmed up in the walk in cooler, we made quiches, pies and tarts. I made a quiche which gave me confidence, and now I enjoy making pies.

Last summer while working outside with my dad, I noticed that the gooseberry bush in my parent’s yard actually had enough berries with which to do something. On a typical year, the neighbor children and our family dog eat most of the gooseberries.

After I noticed the generous berry crop, I quickly got to picking. I filled a bowl quite fast, but then the question was what I should do with these berries?

I scoured the Internet before I found a recipe that I wanted to make. The recipe was for a gooseberry pie.

I made a basic flour, butter and water dough. I let my dough sit overnight in the fridge and the next day got started.

My dad was recovering from surgery, so I made him stem the gooseberries while I got my mise en place together. Stemming of gooseberries is no easy task. There are two stems that must be removed. A person recovering from major surgery is exactly who you need for this chore. It is time consuming, but well worth the effort.

The recipe I used had me make a syrup from sugar water and seasonings before I added the berries. I really like this method because it prevents the pie from getting too runny.

Other recipes incorporate tapioca to prevent excess liquid, but I did not use it in this pie.

After baking my pie for about 20 minutes, the pie was done. I let my pie cool and once it was ready to serve, dug in. The pie turned out very well. I made two pies from my harvest last year.

My gooseberries will be ready to pick in about a week. I’m hoping to make at least three pies from my bush this year.

One plan I have for the filling is to can it. This past year my parents caned apple pie filling and gave it away as gifts.

I like the idea of canning pie filling because it is something that you can have on hand in case you need to make a pie in a pinch.

Another thing that is nice about canning pie filling is that you can really take advantage of fruits and berries while they are in season.

You can also control the ingredients and the seasonings, unlike purchasing commercial pie fillings. Canning pie filling is really quite easy.

All you have to do is follow the recipe for your favorite pie, mix the fruit and other ingredients well and then place the filling mixture in clean and sterilized canning jars.

Fully submerge the mason jars in boiling water for about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the water bath and cool the jars. To make a pie, just place the pie filling in the pie shell.

We recently held our family reunion in Crystal Falls. Visiting relatives came to Marquette for a family dinner the week after the reunion.

I made two blueberry pies for this occasion. I did use the quick cooking tapioca method for these pies, and was very happy with the rsult. I also got creative with the top crust.

I did one lattice crust and one with flower shaped pastry cut outs. Summer is the perfect time to experiment with fruit pies and tarts. The summer bounty of fruits and berries allows the cook to mix and match fruits for tasty combinations.

I never thought I would be able to master pie crusts and filling. I have found that some experimentation and persistence can lead to delicious summer treats. Visit farmer’s markets or fruit stands to purchase berries and fruits that will inspire you to bake some pies to share with family and friends.

Editor’s note: Alexa Christensen is a Northern Michigan University student and amateur chef who is interested in a career in food preparation.