Fresh Strawberry Pie

Last spring we went to the Butterfly House with Michael's parents and the girls.  We stopped at a hole in the wall place.  Kind of reminded me of a vfw hall only smaller.  Turns out they had the best fresh strawberry pie that I've ever tasted.  So I searched for a recipe that I could make and this one is perfect and so easy to make!  I never knew that you could make a pie that tastes fresh, cool, sweet and home-made with so little effort.  It was the perfect treat for the day I made it since we had to pull the girls out of the pool after only 15 minutes of playing when a sudden thunder storm hit.  For an almost 2 and almost 4 year old it was the end of the world, until they had the pie that is ;-)

Recipe Modifications

• Used refrigerated pie crust that you put in your own pan and bake
• Used 2/3 cup of sugar instead of 3/4, if berries are really sweet I'd use 1/2 cup
• Didn't add mint
• Topped with homemade vanilla whipped cream
• Didn't measure the strawberries, just sliced until they filled the pie crust to the top

Ingredients

1 (9 inch) unbaked pastry shell

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup water

1 (3 ounce) package strawberry gelatin

4 cups sliced fresh strawberries

fresh mint

Recipe

This recipe allrecipes.com and was featured in Taste of Home

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Old-Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake

My girls adore strawberries and Michael and I have always liked strawberry shortcake.  So I started browsing more ways to improve our favorite recipe.  This recipe from Cooking Light is amazing.  The whole family agrees best strawberry shortcake recipe ever!  It's spring and the farmers markets will soon to laden with fresh sweet ripe berries, the perfect time to try out this recipe.  And since it's Memorial Day weekend what a great sweet treat to have after some good old American BBQ :-)

Recipe Modifications

• We whip our own topping.  1 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Whip until thick fluffy whipped topping consistency
• I didn't have enough strawberries so I halved the strawberry portion of the recipe
• I never keep buttermilk, no worries make it using 1 cup lowfat milk to 1 tablespoon of lemon juice 

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups halved strawberries, divided

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup orange juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons chilled stick margarine or butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

Cooking spray

6 tablespoons frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed

Whole strawberries (optional)

Recipe

This recipe comes from my favorite source Cooking Light. Not diet food, but food that is conscious of health without losing any flavor. Food for life! 

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Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

I will admit it, I'm not usually a huge fan of rhubarb.  I made this recipe for Michael who adores strawberry rhubarb pie.  The girls and I tried the strawberries and they were sweet but not as super sweet as farmer's market peak of season berries.  The rhubarb tasted woody and tart.  So I decided to put a little bit of extra sugar in to compensate.  And the end result was so good, I am now a huge strawberry rhubarb fan and might even try to bake a pie!  I would highly recommend this easy and yummy crumble.  It also keeps well so if there is any left you'll enjoy later that night or the next day.  Serve warm from the oven and top with ice-cream!

Recipe Modifications

• Added 1/2 cup of brown sugar to compensate for tart rhubarb and not peak of season berries
• Added 2.5 cups of berries

Ingredients

Topping:

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Oats

1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Tsp Lemon Zest

1/2 Cup Chilled Unsalted Butter, cut into cubes

Filling:

1 Cup Rhubarb, chopped

2 Cups Strawberries, hulled and quartered

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

Recipe

This recipe comes from weelicious.

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