Strawberry Pie

Okay people, one more post on the Strawberry Pie and then I promise to shut up about it. FYI, my sister just made the pie for a church thing, and she said people went crazy for it. One guy even told her that he never eats the crust of pies, and he loved this pie crust.
I always make a homemade crust, even though they never turn out that pretty. Here is a tip my mother passed along to me. The less you handle the crust, the flakier it will turn out, and a flaky crust is the secret to a good crust. If you've never made a pie crust, just try it a couple of times. They can be a bit tricky to roll out just right, but never, ever over-handle it! And remember, there are like a total of 3 ingredients involved!

For a single crust pie:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter flavor Crisco
4-5 Tbsp. ICE water

Put flour and salt together in a bowl. Cut half of the shortening with a pastry blender until the pieces are the size of small peas. Cut in the other half of shortening the same way. Sprinkle a couple of Tablespoons of water at a time over different parts of the mixture. Toss gently with a fork. Sprinkle additional tablespoons of water till all is moistened--NOT wet. Form into a ball with hands. Roll out on floured pastry cloth with rolling pin from center to edge until dough is 1/8 inch thick.

Fit pie into pie plate, trim 1/2 to 1 inch beyond edge, fold under and flute. Bake in very hot oven(450) for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Now, here is the Strawberry Pie recipe.

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
dash salt
1 1/2 cups water
3 oz package strawberry flavored gelatin
2 quarts of strawberries

In medium saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, cornstarch and dash salt. Stir in water. Cook over medium heat until clear and bubbly; (this takes some time) add gelatin. Stir until gelatin is dissolved. Cool. Stir in strawberries. Poor into cooled crust. Refrigerate until firm. SERVE WITH REAL WHIPPED CREAM (see below).

Ceci's notes: It pays to be patient while cooking the mixture...it takes a little while to thicken. Also, I've never really seen it get totally "clear"...which can throw you off. When it gets bubbly and thick its about right. Also, bake the crust first and give it plenty of time to cool. Sometimes to speed up the process I put the hot pie plate in a bigger pan with ice cubes on the bottom to cool it more quickly, I am not the most patient person when it comes to that. And it does take a few hours to get firm in the refrigerator, so plan ahead.

How I make real whipped cream.

Quickly rinse out your mixing bowl and throw it in the freezer for a minute. This will get it nice and cold. Pour in the heavy whipping cream. And a tsp. of vanilla and a few Tablespoons of powdered sugar to sweeten it. Make it just prior to whatever you're serving and the crowd will go crazy! Oh, but don't over whip it, or it will turn into butter!

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Ceci