Strawberry Pickin' and Strawberry Pie (RECIPE)

Monday morning after ballet, we ventured over to The Hunter Farm for some springtime strawberry picking!

The girls and I hopped on the hayride right when we got to the farm, and the hayride took us to the barn to visit some animals.



... just before you assume that I posted the only photo where I look semi-decent but the girls are in la-la land please know all of the pictures looked like that. case in point below. we are working on their photo game ;)

We had a chance to visit with pigs, chickens, goats, and some adorble baby cows!

After we fed the goats, we headed back to the front of the farm to grab a white pail and start picking strawberries.

It was fairly warm already, and we were coming up on lunchtime, but in the little bit of time we had, we picked some beautiful red berries. Definitely enough to make a strawberry pie at naptime the next day!

I just used the Pillsbury recipe because it called for cornstarch instead of boxed gelatin, so I had all of the ingredients on hand already! I omitted the optional red food coloring. Also, I let my liquid get a little too thick, so much that it would not pour over the strawberries in the crust. So, I took the strawberries out and added them to the gelatin to coat them, then added that mixture back into the baked pie crust. I also did not serve with whipped cream because I like my pie with just plain ol' sweet strawberries!

Crust:
1 refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box

Filling:
3 pints (6 cups) fresh strawberries
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Steps:

1// Heat oven to 450°F. Bake pie crust as directed on box for pie crust, using 9-inch glass pie plate. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 15 minutes.

2// Meanwhile, in small bowl, crush enough strawberries to make 1 cup. In 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch; stir in crushed strawberries and water. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. If desired, stir in food color. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

3// Place remaining strawberries, whole or sliced, in cooled baked shell. Pour cooked strawberry mixture evenly over berries. Refrigerate until set, about 3 hours, before serving.

4// Just before serving, top pie with sweetened whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.

To see more of my dessert recipes, click here