Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Strawberry Love

“Gonna make a pie from heaven above,
Gonna be filled with strawberry love.
Baby don't you cry, gonna make a pie,
and hold you forever in the middle of my heart.”
—from The Pie Song, from the movie “Waitress.”


Spring is my favorite season. Oh I love the flowers, the buds, the birds. I just love watching this bursting of colorful life. But I have to admit that one of my favorite things about spring is the strawberries that I grow right outside my sun porch that I call my office. Okay, it’s just a wee bit early for them. But before I know it, I will be overwhelmed with the berries. I love growing my own because strawberries are one of those fruits that are extremely porous and unless you buy organic, it’s very difficult to know if your berries ever get shed of those pesticides—no matter how much you soak and scrub. My girls enjoy these berries from our garden unabashedly. And if there are any left from their snacks and smoothies, I always make a pie (or two). This recipe is from my cookbook, MRS. ROWE’S LITTLE BOOK OF SOUTHERN PIES.
Strawberry Pie
You must use fresh berries for this pie. Frozen ones will not work—they will make it too runny. Any kind of fresh berry can be used for variety, but make sure the berry and the gelatin complement one another.
Makes two 9-inch pies
2 crusts, prebaked
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 ounces strawberry gelatin mix
2 pounds fresh strawberries
whipped topping
Clean, cap, and drain strawberries. Set aside.
In medium saucepan over medium-high heat, cook water, sugar, gelatin, and cornstarch until thickened.
Whisk constantly. It will not be like a cream; it will feel thick, will thinly coat a spoon, and a line drawn on the spoon will stay clear.
Remove from the heat. Cool to lukewarm.
While mixture is cooling, place strawberries, pointed end up, starting in the middle of the pie and working out to the edge of the pie shell.
Pour half of the cooled mixture over the strawberries in each pie shell.
Chill pie until the filling is set like gelatin, several hours or overnight.
Serve with whipped topping.

4 comments:

Linda O. Johnston said...

My husband would really love that pie, Mollie. Too bad I don't bake! But he does. He makes lime pies with limes from our garden. Thanks for the recipe!

Mollie Cox Bryan said...

Oh my! I love a good lime pie....And it's always better when someone esle makes it for you. What a nice husband. Cheers!

Betty Hechtman said...

I just bought three strawberry plants at Costco. The homegrown ones are so sweet.

Mollie Cox Bryan said...

They do taste better, Betty, that's for sure. And you can rest easy about pesticides. Thanks, for commenting.