Strawberry Pie (recipe follows)- If I were to ask 100 people what their favorite part about the summer is, I imagine that most would say either the weather or the break from school/work. Me, well, I love school being out because I get to have the kids at home and as for the weather, yeah, not so much. I live in Phoenix, so this is more the stay inside time of year. But, besides school being out, one of my favorite things about summer is the produce. Yes, the produce. I want to sing a little song that goes like ? berries, berries, berries ? (wow, I can’t think of the name of the tune so you can sing along with me – I think it may be ? Conga, Conga, Conga ?). Anyway, in the summer time I make berry everything – including berry pies! Strawberry pie, blueberry pie, raspberry, blackberry, you get the idea :D! For some reason though, I was in an especially strawberry(ee) mood this year and I’ve been making strawberry pie like a mad woman. It’s just so tasty. Oh, we have to have a quick talk about the whip cream, cool whip thing. You should know that I am almost always a whipped cream kind of girl. However, when it comes to strawberry pie, I am decidedly cool whip. There is a very good reason for this – want to hear it, here it goes ??. Just kidding, but really. The reason is of course because of my awesome Grandma. She made strawberry pie every summer and on my Uncle’s Birthday in May (in case you were wondering) and always served it with cool whip. Soooo, now to me, my strawberry pie only tastes right with cool whip. Otherwise, it tastes like something is missing. I would like to suggest to you to try it both ways, you never know, you may like the cool whip too!
Ingredients
2 pounds Fresh Strawberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 Tablespoon Key Lime Juice (you can also substitute regular lime or lemon)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pre-baked pie shell (either homemade or store bought)
Instructions
1. Make and bake your pie shell or cook your store bought one according to the package instructions and set it aside to cool. Make sure you dock (poke little holes with a fork) your dough before baking so it doesn’t get bubbles when it bakes. 
2.Clean and hull (remove the stems and leaves) all of your strawberries.
3. Place one pound of strawberries in the food processor and pulse until they are pureed but still have little chunks. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a potato masher. Also, I use the bigger strawberries for this part and save the smaller ones for step 10.
4. Place your puree into a medium sauce pot on the stove.
5. Add your sugar, cornstarch, Key Lime juice, and salt. Stir to combine. Pay close attention to the color. It has a kind of white color to it. You will be able to tell your filling is done when that white disappears and turns glossy.
6. Turn the heat on medium – high (on most stoves)
7. Cook until the white color is gone and the filling is very glossy. It will also thicken. This takes around five minutes. Also, stir it the whole time making sure to scrape the bottom as you stir. I use a high heat rubber spatula to stir mine. 
8. When your filling has that beautiful gloss to it, remove it from the heat and set it to the side.
9. Get your pre-baked pie shell and put a thin layer of the filling on the bottom (the filling doesn’t have to be cooled for this part).
10. Place one layer of fresh strawberries into the pie shell.
11. Pour the filling on top and spread it as evenly as possible. The filling will still be hot, but should have cooled for at least five minutes. I do not let mine cool more then 10 minutes though because it gets too thick and will not pour all around the sides of your strawberries.
12. Place the pie in the refrigerator for about 3-4 hours – until it sets up and serve! I garnish mine with cool whip like I said, but whipped cream is good too :D
Please enjoy this “how-to” video!
Hi :), my name's Alicia!
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