Strawberry Pie Recipe

I got this recipe from the Taste of Home's 2004 Quick Cooking book. There's a picture of the pie right on the cover--yum!

1 unbaked pastry shell (9 in)
3/4 C sugar
2 T cornstarch
1 C water
1 pkg (3 oz) strawberry gelatin
4 C sliced fresh strawberries
fresh mint, optional

Line unpricked pastry shell with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450* for 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack.

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and water until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in gelatin until dissolved. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes or until slightly cooled. Meanwhile, arrange strawberries in the crust. Pour gelatin mixture over berries. Refrigerate until set. Garnish with mint if desired. Yield: 6-8 servings.


My Grandma's Pie Crust
1 1/2 C flour
1 t. salt
1/2 C shortening (I usually use butter-flavored)
several t. cold, cold water

I mix the flour and salt together then I use my pastry blender to cut in the shortening (before I had one of those, I think I just used a fork). When it gets to a crumbly consistency, then I start adding the water. (I usually fix a cup of ice water and put it to the side while I'm mixing the other ingredients--then it's really, really cold by the time I'm ready to use it. The colder the better, folks.) I have found that it takes me about 10 "big spoons" (yeah, no accurate teaspoon-measuring here!) of cold water to get my dough to the consistency I want. Anyway, after you put in the cold water, mix everything together with your hands. If you're lucky, the dough will come together beautifully. Too doughy? Add more flour. Not doughy enough? Add a bit more water. It may take some time to get it down, but I've surprised myself with how well I can do this. It helped to have a Grandma and Mom that I watched do this for years. Anyway, once you get it, roll away!

But you can always get pre-made crusts, and I won't tell! Those are wonderful things, aren't they?

Also, the recipe calls for you to NOT prick the pie crust, but I've noticed that a couple times I've made this that I did get a bubble in the middle of my crust (which does go down a little once the crust has cooled--but not all the way). I'm wondering if I should try pricking the crust the next time--just once right in the middle????? Or maybe I need to fix the foil over top the pie more securely before I bake it??