Strawberry Picking, Strawberry Pie

Friday morning, I met a few friends and babies at Hall Family Farm for some strawberry picking! 

When I was growing up in a small country town outside of Columbia, SC, there was a strawberry patch on the way home from school. Mom would occasionally let us stop by Mr. Kersey's farm to pick berries (and munch on them, too!). Mr. Kersey used to tell us three sisters to remember that the berries tasted best right off of the plant, and I found myself repeating that lesson to the little girls on Friday.

Any local readers -- I would highly recommend this farm! We filled our cardboard basket below about halfway full, bought a small loaf of strawberry sweet bread and a bottle of water, and my total for all of this was less than $10! Good, cheap, wholesome, educational fun. Can't beat it. 

So, what to do with those beautiful red berries? Besides having them on hand for snacking, and slipping a few slices in the overnight French toast that I made Saturday evening, I also put together an amazing strawberry pie.

I can't take any credit for the recipe -- I found it here -- but I'll paste it below for ease!

Strawberry Pie

9" pie shell 

4 c. strawberries, washed and hulled 

1 1/2 c. water 

3/4 c. sugar 

2 Tbsp cornstarch 

1 (3 oz) package strawberry Jell-O

Bake pie shell according to package directions. Cool. Place washed and hulled strawberries in cool pie shell. Combine water, sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Bring to boil and cook two minutes. Add strawberry Jell-O and stir until dissolved. Pour over berries. Chill until set.

So, that's it. Easy, fresh, yummy! And, after you've purchased the berries, super inexpensive to make. This would be delicious topped with whipped cream, too. 

Enjoy, and remember to snag some of those strawberries right off of the plant!