Strawberry Pie

Once a year, I like to make either a strawberry tart, or a glazed strawberry pie to show off the berries at their spring nicest. If you've never made one, be assured it looks impressive, but is dead easy.

You could even cheat, and use a prepared pie crust. I'd skip the Cool Whip and go for the real stuff though-this is once a year pie.

The recipe comes from a well-worn copy of Better Homes and Gardens Pies and Cakes from 1966.

You Will Need:

1 baked (and cooled) pastry crust
Sweetened whipped cream for garnishing (I use icing sugar in mine to help stabilise it)

4 cups fresh strawberries
1 cup water
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch (that's cornflour outside the US)
a few drops of red food colouring

Mash 1 cup of the smaller berries. Place in a pot with the water and cook over medium/high heat for 2 minutes. Strain through a sieve. Combine the sugar and cornstarch. Add to the strawberry juice and cook over medium heat until it thickens and becomes clear. Remove and cool slightly.

Arrange half the berries in a layer in the pastry. Add half the sauce over them. Repeat with remaining berries and sauce. Chill several hours before topping with sweetened whipped cream.

Remember how I said I didn't have a proper cake dome? Here's a look at what I use instead

It works. No one here cares what it looks like under glass.

So hey, what's up this weekend? We have puppet workshops and shows on Saturday, and it is also the monthly Friends of the Library book sale at Swanson. I love it when I have a two-library-branch weekend.

Hope yours is every bit as fun.