Strawberry Pie... Just in Time for Your Sweetheart

“Doubtless God could have made a better berry (than the strawberry), but doubtless God never did”

William Allen Butler

I believe that strawberries are the perfect fruit for sweethearts.  They are red, heart shaped, and they taste so sweet.  I can think of no better fruit to send the message "I love you" on Valentine's Day than a strawberry.

I cannot take credit for this fantastic strawberry pie recipe that I found last night on allrecipes.com, but I can tell you after making two of them that it is so good, my husband nearly ate an entire pie in one sitting, and he is not a big anything eater.  It was a great surprise.  Another great thing about this recipe, is that it only requires four ingredients- in addition to the pie shell and heavy whipped cream for garnish... It's fast, easy, and has no  harsh preservatives or gelatin.

I made a double batch of  classic crisco recipe crust.    I am new to crisco pie crust.  I used to fight with butter, but not anymore.

This crust turns out tasty, flaky, perfect.  The crust below got damaged because I almost dropped it when I realized my new hotpad was not working. I got a good burn.  I didn't lose the pie crust though.  It's not as pretty as it had been, but it's still functional.  Imagine YOURS looking better, having not been injured. Smile.
So, you see it really is TOO easy. I just layered a half quart of cored, fresh whole strawberries into the crust while I heated the other half quart of berries that I crushed and added a cup of sugar to.

Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently, until it boils.  Then, turn down burner to simmer and mix up 3/4 cup water and 3 Tbsp cornstarch and gently pour in while stirring.

 It smells SO GOOD at this point, the whole house smells like strawberries, just like hot strawberry jam.... Heavenly!

 Stir constantly.  It should thicken in about ten minutes.  At that time, ladle the strawberry filling into the pie shell, on top of the fresh, raw berries.  Place the pie into the refrigerator for a few hours to chill, if you can.

Mine only lasted about 45 minutes before my sweetheart and chief gremlin got into the first one...  If you look real close you may be able to see a crumb on the side of his mouth.  Evidence.  It didn't matter.  He always melts my heart with his childlike smile.

The good news is, I caught him BEFORE he got into the second pie...  Bad news, he didn't give me a chance to whip up the heavy whipped cream, he pulled out his old standby, an icky faux whip... It could have been so much better with real whipped cream.

Well, the unattractive pie crust is the one that survived to tell the tale...  I have never made a strawberry pie before and I cannot stomach store bought ones.  The gelatin in them gets me sick.  This recipe looks and tastes great, and is so fast and easy to make that it took me by surprise.  I highly recommend it for your Sweetheart or Superbowl party.  

Happy weekend FARMGIRLS!!!