Sunday, March 31, 2013

Strawberry Pie


Happy Easter, everyone!

This recipe for Strawberry Pie comes from my husband's family.  It's so refreshing and very, very berry tasting! 

This week while I was shopping at Aldi I noticed they had Plant City strawberries!  I couldn't resist.  Plant City is in Florida and home to the Strawberry Festival.  I haven't experienced the Plant City Strawberry Festival in years but Plant City Strawberries are ready in early spring for the majority of the United States.  Perfect for Easter!

When I was growing up in Florida, we often went to Plant City, .. but not just for the strawberries.  My granny had siblings who lived in Plant City.  It's in the Tampa vicinity and as a child I never thought a thing about the peanut fields, strawberry fields, and roads "graveled" with crushed shells.  That's just the way things were in Plant City.  Now, that I live in Missouri I realize what a unique and special place it was.  I realize that not every farm has driveways made of crushed shells and that not everyone has fig and kumkuat trees growing in their yard. What I wouldn't give to go back to those moments in the hot, summer sun searching for shells with my little brother in our Aunt Valley's driveway.  My granny's sister "Valley" and her husband "Cliff" had a peanut farm and they grew these humongous peanuts..  (seriously... he was "Cliff" and she was "Valley"... cool, huh?)... 
but I digress.... back to the strawberries.

The strawberries I saw at Aldi were stickered from Plant City so lots of memories of being in Plant City came flooding back  to me of big, juicy strawberries that we picked in the long rows of strawberry plants.  Yum!

My college daughter requested this pie so I sent her home with four big, huge slices. 

You can spread a layer of softened cream cheese (plain) on the crust first, before you dump on the jello/berry filling and its super delicious, but my daughter requested just a plain strawberry pie so that's the way I made it today.

Ask my sweet girl and you shall receive.

Here's how I make Strawberry Pie AT HOME MY WAY:

 
Strawberry Pie
 
Ingredients:
  • 3 cups fresh strawberries (I used 1 quart of berries, sliced)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 3-ounce package strawberry gelatin
  • 1 Tablespoon butter/margarine
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Directions:
 
Bake unfilled pie crust and let cool.
 
Slice 2 cups of the berries and set aside. 
 
In a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. 
 
Chop and mash remaining 1 cup of berries in a 2 cup measuring cup.  Add enough COLD water to mashed berries to make 2 cups of this water/crushed berry mixture.  Dump this into the sugar/cornstarch mixture in the saucepan.  Cook and stir until it starts to bubble.  Cook 2 minutes after the bubbling starts  (STIR often - I use a whisk while cooking)  After the 2 minutes, remove from heat.  Add gelatin, butter, and lemon juice.  Stir until gelatin dissolves.  Chill in the refrigerator approximately 45 minutes.
 
After this 45 minute chill time, add remaining sliced berries to this mixture and then dump into a prebaked, unfilled pie crust. 
 
Refrigerate for 6-8 hours (overnight is best) before slicing to all it to "jell" well.
 
Serve with or without whipped topping.
 
Cover leftovers.
 
 
I have also made this same recipe with fresh, summer peaches and peach gelatin.   It's really, really good!