Strawberry Pie

Strawberries officially hit the fruit sellers in abundance this week! And the price finally came down a bit, too. It will be short-lived I know. Strawberries are never available as long as I'd like them to be here. So we are eating lots of strawberries right now. So many, in fact, that the fruit seller commented to my husband, "Your family must really like strawberries. You buy them nearly every day." Yes, yes we do. And I'll buy them nearly every day until they are gone. And I will use them to make this strawberry pie at least once a week until then, because it is only good with FRESH strawberries! This is my mom's recipe. She makes it best! I know this calls for strawberry jello, and I know that is an import item. Here where I live the import stores and import section of large grocery stores carry strawberry jello for about Y16. If you think about it, that's a whole lot less than cream cheese or chocolate that many desserts call for! So, make it if you can. And love it.

Strawberry Pie
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
4 Tbs cornstarch
1 small pkg strawberry jello (the 4 serving kind)
~1 kg strawberries
2 regular sized pre-baked pie crusts (not big deep dish ones)

Put sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Stir together. Add water and cook over medium low heat, stirring regularly. Once sugar is dissolved, cook until thick and clear. When you think its cooked enough, it probably isn't, so cook it a little longer! Should be pretty thick. Remove from heat and stir in package of strawberry jello powder. While it cools, clean strawberries, remove caps, and slice.

You can also be baking your pie crusts if you haven't already. When crusts are ready and cool, layer in the sliced strawberries. Load them in! Lots is good!

Pour mostly cooled (it can be slightly warm, but not hot--believe me, I try to rush mine too often!) jello sauce over strawberries. Strawberries will stay freshest if they all get covered, but you'll barely have enough sauce for both pies, so make sure to share it evenly! Refrigerate at least 2 hours prior to serving. Slice, top with cool whip if desired, and serve!

Notes: You can make just one pie, too. Cut measurements in half. I just find it hard to use only half the pack of jello. So even if making half a recipe, you can still just put a whole pack of jello and it won't really change anything. In fact, if you have a deep dish pie plate, that will make a good amount for a single larger pie. Again, I can't stress enough that you make sure the sauce cools before pouring over berries. It doesn't have to be room temperature, but it can't be steaming or the pie won't set up--it will be runny. I have made far too many runny strawberry pies because my recipe doesn't remind me to cool the sauce and I rush it!