Tom's Cheery Cherry Cherry Berry Pie

I made this pie for our church's annual Chili and Pie cook off and won 2nd place! It was a delicious cherry pie with blue berries and a crumb topping. I found it on line and it was the winner of the 2009 American Pie Council cook off so I figured it must be good! My kids typically don't like cherry pie or cherry pie filling in any kind of dessert, but they really liked this pie. It is a sweet pie that needs a tall glass of milk or big scoop of ice cream with it. I will be making it again very soon!

Tom's Cheery Cherry Cherry Berry Pie

Crust:
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup Crisco shortening
Mix all ingredients in a stand mixer on medium speed swiftly until crust appears “pea like.” Carefully sprinkle ice cold water in crust mix until it just starts to be fully moistened and gathers together. Pat into disc, wrap and refrigerate for at least one half hour. Roll out on floured surface and make and crimp pie crust. Freeze until ready to use.

Filling:
4 1/2 cups Montmorency tart cherries –frozen
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp real almond extract
1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/2 cup dried Michigan cherries
1 1/2 cups of frozen blueberries
Combine frozen cherries, dried cherries, sugar, cornstarch. Stir constantly on med-hi heat until boiling. Add blueberries. Boil for one minute or until thickened. Add almond extract, lemon juice and zest. Pour blueberries in bottom of pie shell and pour cherry mixture over them.
Crumb Topping
1 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter softened
Mix together all crumb topping ingredients by hand or a pastry blender until crumbly.
Cover filling with crumb topping. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 45 minutes to one hour or until filling is bubbling over crust.