Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Strawberry Pie

This past Saturday I went to my favorite local vegetable stand, Landrum's. As I was about to check out I saw that they had fresh Louisiana strawberries. These are GREAT for making pies. I am not making a pie this time, but made a strawberry pie back in March but haven't posted about it yet. I made this when a friend came over for dinner but no one ended up eating it...and it was the best one I've made yet. Oh, well. I just shared a couple of pieces with my mom and Granny (this was actually the weekend before she died, so she knew that I could make a pie crust! :-) ). I am a pie crust snob and like making my own...you just can't trust the store bought kind. So, I'll give you the crust recipe as well as the pie recipe. Feel free to "lighten" the recipe by using sugar free ingredient...I did and actually think it worked better than the full sugar variety. Because berries are FULL of antioxidants, this is my entry to Sweetnick's ARF Tuesday. Check out the site for more great recipes.

Pie Crust
1 cup sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 T water
1/3 cup shortening

Sift flour and salt into bowl. Remove 1/4 cup flour and blend to a paste. Cut shortening into remaining flour until pieces are size of small peas. Add paste to flour mixture. Mix with fork until dough comes together and can be shaped into a ball (this is best done by putting a piece of saran wrap over the bowl, dumping it, and pressing the dough together.) Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Roll out crust to 1/8 inch thick to cover 9-inch pie pan.
For this pie, prick holes in the crust with a fork or fill with uncooked peas or pie weights. Heat oven to 400 degrees F and bake for 10 minutes.


Strawberry Pie
1 baked pie shell
1 lb strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup 7-UP (I used diet)
3 T corn starch
1/2 packet strawberry jello (sugar free is fine)
cool whip
Put the sugar, corn starch, and 7-UP in a saucepan and cook until thick. When it begins to boil, that is thickest it will get. Remove from heat and add the jello powder. Stir. While you are cutting the strawberries, allow this to cool. It may still be slightly warm when you pour it over the berries. Wash and slice the strawberries. I like mine in quarters or smaller, but if you prefer larger berries, go for it! Place the strawberries in the pie shell and pour the cooked sauce over it. Refrigerate for several hours or until cool and set. Serve with a dolop of cool whip! Enjoy!

12 comments:

Peabody said...

Mmmm...strawberry pie. I haven't had one in quite some time. Even when I do my mom usually throws in rhubarb. Love the color!

Erika W. said...

That looks awesome Claire! I've never seen 7-Up in a pie before. I'm going to have to remember this for strawberry season.

Brilynn said...

I can't wait until strawberry season to make a tasty pie like this one!

Anonymous said...

This looks so good. I love the 7-Up addition. Very interesting!
Glad your Grandma got to see what a fabulous cook you are and knew you could make pie crust. So sweet.

Unknown said...

Peabody - Strawberry pie is my favorite closely followed by angel food cake...with strawberries! I've actually never had rhubarb...sounds like something to try!

Erika - I don't really know what the pie is like WITHOUT 7-UP (or sprite, etc) so I couldn't tell you what it adds...but I like the idea!

Brilynn - Show it to us when you do! LOVE strawberries.

Kristen - It's the best! Granny was famous for her pie crusts. I'm pretty sure she taught Mama how to make them and Mama taught me. I'm going to have to carry on the tradition and become the pecan pie maker for Thanksgiving.

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Strawberry pie is just good.
Yours has beautiful color.

Connie Peterson said...

Do not (repeat, do NOT) put rhubarb in your strawberry pie!! It ruins it!! Rhubarb is tart, sour, bitter and yucky!!! It ruins everything. I have had people swear that it does not, but I can taste a grain of rhubarb in anything!!!!

Your pie looks lovely, lushious and yummy. I will have to try when strawberries come into season here!

Blessings

Anonymous said...

Wow, this looks great, Claire. And I love how flaky your pie crust looks. Yum!

Anonymous said...

Our West TN strawberries are coming in. I talked Mama out of making a strawberry pie because there was just us to eat it, but Philip gets here Friday. Time for a pie.

Wow, you've made me hungry, Claire. Great pics. You must have a really good camera :)

And you can't beat a real, homemade crust, either!!

Stacy at Exceedingly Mundane said...

Gosh, Claire, that looks so good! You know, I've never made pie crust and I don't think I've ever made a strawberry pie even with a storebought crust. GASP! :)

P.S. Where is Landrums?

Unknown said...

MKHC - Thanks! I was so excited at how this pie turned out.

Connie - I don't think I'd try the rhubarb on my own...maybe if someone else did it. Hope your strawberries are ready soon!

Alisha - Thanks! If you don't do your own crust you should try.

Daddy - Thanks! I hope you enjoy your pie. I think someone really great got me a new camera for Christmas...now I just need some time to play with it! Check out my facebook profile...I did it for you.

Stacy - The crusts are really easy to make...well, I say that. Making the dough is easy but rolling it out is the trick. Just takes practice. The pie itself is very easy. Landrum's is just outside of Clinton on Clinton Blvd across from Lakeview funeral home. They usually have squash for 99c all summer...it's already there now!

Anonymous said...

This wonderful strawberry pie recipe was first introduced to me in Charleston SC around 1975. Remember the Shoney's restaurants?
This is the recipe they used for their famous strawberry pie....a specialty back then.
Barbarita