GF Pie Take Two

It's June 20th?  My last post was almost a month ago..where does the time go?  I guess I got a bit carried away with summer and all of its projects and activities.  And while we're on the subject of neglected hobbies, since the very sad realization of a gluten allergy my kitchen-aid mixer, cake pans and rubber spatuals have all been collecting dust. But like I said, it's June, and the bounty of the Farmers Market's strawberries and rhubarb gave me that little nudge I needed.  So here we go, GF pie take two. 

For my first flour-free pie attempt I used Bob's Red Mill 

all-purpose gluten free flour mix.  Some people like it, but 

I found its consistency a bit sandy.. this time I used a pie crust 

specific mix given to me by my mother-in-law, purchased 

from the SillyYak Bakery in Madison Wisconsin.

 The weird thing about the recipe printed on the bag
was the 1/2 cup of shortening it called for.
I'd never used the stuff before.

But I'm certainly open to trying new things these days, so I
threw it in the cuisinart along with two tablespoons of
butter and a 1/4 cup of milk. 

The dough seemed dry so I doubled the milk but it was still nothing 

I could have rolled out, so I just pressed it into the bottom of the pan.  Boo.

Though a bit discouraged, I spooned in the filling:

Strawberries, rhubarb, lemon juice and zest, sugar, 

cornstarch and a pinch of salt.

And opted for a sprinkling of oats, brown sugar and dollops of butter
as a topping. I guess it was sort of a hybrid pie/crisp.  

After about 30 minutes a familiar sweet fruity smell 

filled my kitchen.  I felt hopeful.

And in the end, the GF pie wasn't bad, it was almost good actually.  

But I still have a lot of learning and experimenting to do...