Thursday, October 25, 2012

Strawberry pie

A couple days ago, Older Daughter suddenly had a hankering for strawberry pie. Don't ask me why. I've never even made one, so where she got this hankering, I can't say.

But no matter. She looked up a recipe online -- here -- and we proceeded to give it a go.

We used one of the pre-made pie crusts I froze a few days ago, when I made quiche.


I baked it until it was browned. For the first half of the baking time, I snugged a slightly smaller pie pan inside the crust, so it wouldn't poof up. (My pie crusts will often do this, even though I poke them with a fork.)


Older Daughter sliced some strawberries.


Meanwhile I whipped some cream.


Lydia, we found out, loves strawberries and promptly begged for more after one fell on the floor.


Next we took some strawberries and ground them up in the blender, to make the start of the glaze. This turned out to be WAY too many strawberries. Next time we'll use about a third of this amount.


Heating up the crushed strawberries.


Adding sugar.


I mixed some cornstarch into water...


...which I then added to the boiling strawberry/sugar mix.


While the glaze was cooking, Older Daughter poured the sliced strawberries into the baked shell.



Once the glaze was boiling...


...I poured it over the sliced strawberries.


It made a pretty pie.


After the pie had cooled a bit, I covered it and put it in our "outdoor refrigerator" (on top our chest freezer on the porch) until morning.


As mentioned, I had a lot of leftover glaze. Make a note: do less next time.


The kids dipped into the pie the next day.


Let's just say it didn't last long.


I think I have a new recipe for our dessert repertoire for the weekly neighborhood potlucks.

30 comments:

  1. Yum!

    I'm fixin' to build a saskatoon pie. Do you ever pick those?

    A. McSp

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  2. The glaze makes an excellent topping for vanilla ice cream....btw...

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  3. Tips from someone who makes strawberry pie every chance she gets: Cut those berries only in half or quarter (depending on size). Mostly cool the glaze before adding to sliced berries. Put a drop or two of strawberry extract to the glaze. It increases the flavor a little bit, but increases the scent a lot (which is half the fun). Use that left-over glaze to mix into the whipped cream if you like everything VERY strawberry-ish. Best Tip: Next time make two.

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  4. I'm surprised you didn't have little critters come do some taste testing for you.

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  5. Enjoy your Blog.
    For keeping pie crust down while baking, throw some marbles in the center. I know in the old days, women used their pearl necklaces for this. I'm sure there are other things that can be used, but real glass marbles are the cheapest.

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  6. I love reading your blog and respectfully note that food prep photos are always more appealing when appliances are clean. Mix up some white vinegar and hot water and scrub that blender and your crockpot back to pristine. Throw a pretty towel or placemat over the chest freezer for that photo of your pie cooling. Dog hair in the fruit glaze? Maybe not, but the photo suggests that so, for this reader, it does not achieve the cuteness you want to convey. Basic food safety begins with cleanliness and is an important part of living frugally and simply.

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    Replies
    1. Wow, so much response on your blog and love the multiple clean kitchen pics!

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  7. This pie is GREAT with whipped cream or ice cream on top :)

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  8. And all this time you've been blaming the deer for eating your strawberries Patrice!
    Hey, what happened to the wheat, I didn't see any threshing pics?

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    1. LOL -- that's because we haven't threshed it yet. We've been too busy getting the farm ready for winter.

      - Patrice

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  9. So much for dogs being carnivores! Our dog loved to pick blackberries off the bushes using her front teeth.

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  10. Someone should send the health department to your kitchen and condemn it. Your floor is filthy, your blender is filthy and disgusting. You stove is dirty and filthy. I can't believe you have a dog so close to your food. Get dog hairs in the food much????

    And all you people ate that crap?

    DISGUSTING! You should be ashamed of yourself.

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    Replies
    1. Angry Brian Keith...October 26, 2012 at 11:19 AM

      You are the disgusting one here. How dare you insult this hard working family with your vicious UNSOLICITED tirade? Who do you think you are to threaten anyone by siccing a government agency on to them? Are you insane? You are contemptable in the extreme and I am proud to state it as fact. Patrice's response to your vile rant was to act like the sane adult she is, you could never hold a candle to her and their family. The shame falls to you ranter, and rightfully so...

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    2. Wow. Personally I LOVE this blog and admire the entire family. I would be proud and thrilled to sit around your family table and talk the evening away after dinner. I can't imagine how hard it is but try to ignore the haters....

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    3. What a lot of phony baloney BS. Until the last 60 years even in the US and England, people didn't have the latest and shiniest homes and appliances, nor did they need them. You'd be appalled in rich homes in Britain, where the dogs have full reign of the furniture. This is the typical mindset of someone who lives a hermetic existence and couldn't rough it if their lives depended on it.

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    4. What a lot of phony baloney BS. Until the last 60 years even in the US and England, people didn't have the latest and shiniest homes and appliances, nor did they need them. You'd be appalled in rich homes in Britain, where the dogs have full reign of the furniture. This is the typical mindset of someone who lives a hermetic existence and couldn't rough it if their lives depended on it.

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    5. I'd take a dirty floor with a dog on it every time over a clean one and a kitchen companion like with aggressively bad manners.

      Yours sounds like a truly tortured soul.

      A. McSp


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    6. You sure made a lot of assumptions by looking at two dimensional photos! I don't see a dirty stove, I see a few spots under the burners, not all over it. How can you tell that the floor is dirty vs just worn and not brand new? You must be highly materialistic - how sad to be so shallow!

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    7. You a a sad, empty individual. Why would you even visit a homesteading ste when it is doubtful that you would even exercise any of these tasks.
      If you are so concerned with a pristine environment then you better stop dining at any restaurants. Get a clue, if you use a kitchen (ie. your stove or blender) for anything, other than decoration, then it will no longer look new!

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  11. Dang I want a strawberry pie now. It looks great. Sorry you have to deal with anonymous JackA**es. Your daughter has good tastes in pies.

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  12. Patrice,

    I can't believe the criticism I've read here! I only saw your wonderful cooking recipes and instructions in pictures that are a tremendous help to me; I didn't even notice "tools" that hadn't been wiped down with vinegar! I know from experience that a homestead with livestock takes time, and there are priorities, such as feeding and housing livestock that need to be done first, not wiping down the parts of tools that never touch the food!

    Thanks for your blog. It's wonderful!

    Carol in PA

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  13. My blender can get that dirty in one day. The freezer on the porch may not be dirty, just the surface ruined by being on the porch. I cannot believe something did not eat the pie before morning.

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  14. The strawberry pie looks yummy! I'd better not let daughter see this posting. Strawberries are her favorite fruit.
    To neat-freak anon troll, my kitchen is on the same level of lived in clean as Patrice's and guess what? We don't get annual flu shots either. Guess what else, we haven't had an illness in I don't remember for more than a day or two of a sniffle. We have dogs, cats, rabbits, and chickens. We walk in and out of our house all day. Get someone to take their shoes off or wash their hands e erytime they come in. Be real! My daughter lets the dogs and cats lick her face. She has shared food with them. She caught more illnesses from kids in public school than my not perfectly clean kitchen or her animals. Since we pulled her from public school and noe homeschool she hasn't been I'll once.
    I remember a saying from my childhood. "God made dirt and dirt don't hurt". If the troll wants something to worry about about worry about how the commander and chief of our military watch in live time for 7 hours our ambassador be under attack and deny 3 times the request for assistance. The military was told to sand down. Now THAT'S something to get your panties in a wad over, but Patrice's kitchen. Just petty and little.

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  15. I bet if you replaced the cornstarch with arrowroot, you could can the left over glaze for another time.

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  16. What a beautiful pie!! Strawberries are my favorite fruit, I will have to give that recipe a try sometime.

    I love all the photos of the well used kitchen. I know I would love to have a table like you have to work on. You can tell you have a family that is well fed, by the look of the kitchen. It is a sight to behold. Most kitchens these days have only a microwave that is well used. Thanks for being such a great example of a godly wife and mother.

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  17. I'm sorry someone who thought they are better than you felt it was their place to critisize. People like that usually think they are helping those of us that they look down upon. If they didn't like your kitchen and dog then they don't need to come over and eat at your HOME! Keep up the good work.

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  18. I love strawberry pie and my hubby loves banana cream, so one time I made a banana cream pie and put in whole strawberries before I poured the pudding on top. It has to be one of the best pies I've ever made. And we were both happy with it!

    As far as the person who complained about your cleanliness I dare them to walk into their favorite restaurants and check out the kitchens. They might never eat again.

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  19. Uh...can't see the dog hair, Anonymous, maybe it's on your computer screen.

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