Pie Crust and Strawberry Pie

One of my favorite desserts is homemade pie. 

My grandma's have spoiled me over the years because I don't think any bought pie is as good as one you can make at home in your own kitchen. 

If only my Grandma Helen and her dear friend Ruthie were still here. 

They taught me how to make fruit pies and used to make them all of the time in the summer. 

I miss their perfected desserts SO much!

Luckily I have MANY of their recipes. 

Today I'm sharing a super easy pie crust and strawberry pie.

Perhaps I've shared the crust recipe before, but I'm going to share it again. 

Pie Crust

2 C. Flour

1/2 C. Butter (softened)

1/2 C. Crisco

1/3 C. Milk

1 1/2 tsp. Vinegar

Dash Salt

I like to cube my butter and then mix everything together with a fork or pastry blender. 

Then, I cover the dough in flour and sit it in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Flour your counter top surface.
Roll out your dough into a size large enough that will overflow your pie plate.

Fold the dough into half or four and place into your pie plate.

Unfold, Make edges even and then crimp them using two fingers.

Using a fork, prick the sides and bottom of the pie.
Let sit for ten minutes.

For fruit pies you bake the crust ahead of time.
You can put rice, beans or weights in to help the crust from shrinking.

Bake at 350- 45 minutes

This recipe is from a lovely lady who used to be quite the baker in my hometown. 

She passed before I was born or when I was little, but our family friend Ruthie spent a lot of time with this lady. 

Ruthie always made Mrs. Roche's strawberry pie, and that's the recipe I still make to this day. 

 Strawberry Pie
1 Quart of Strawberries
1 1/4 C. water
1 C. Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 TBSP. Lemon Juice
3 TBSP. Corn Starch
Almost a tsp. of Vanilla
Red Food Coloring

Wash, de-stem and quarter your strawberries.

Let the berries drain really well.
I like to use a paper towel and soak up all of the extra water while the berries are in the strainer or spread the berries out on paper towels on the counter.

Mix all of the other ingredients together in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil.

Mixture will thicken.
Barely let the mixture boil and remove from heat.
Cool.

Combine the berries with the strawberry mixture.

Pour into cooled crust.

I'm not a fan of strawberry pies made with the gel you buy at the store.
In addition, I don't love pies with whole berries.
Homemade crust, homemade gel mixture and quartered berries make up my type of pie!
Enjoy!