Cabin Trip and Frozen Strawberry Pie

I spent a lot of time this past weekend reflecting on how lucky I am. I tend to do this when I find myself in a natural and beautiful setting. I will get all emotional, thinking that there are so many people less fortunate than I. People who have to work hard just to put food on the table, or people who live in environments that most of us would deem unbearable, or even people who have everything they could ever want but just don't know it, always feeling unsatisfied and wanting more. Laying on an inflated raft out on Alpine Lake, surrounded by good people, good food, and good beer, I am completely at peace. How could I ever be bothered or unsatisfied or unhappy when I have this beautiful place within reach? My parents own a cabin in Big Trees, Ca and I have been going up there my whole life. Wine tasting in the fall, snow in the winter, hiking in the spring, and sunny lakes in the summer. I wish I could spend every weekend, year-round, up there. Unfortunately, life's small surprises and responsibilities always seem to keep me from visiting as much as I would like. But when I do find that rare, open weekend, I consider myself the luckiest person alive.

For 4th of July this year, I went up to the cabin with some buddies to celebrate the long weekend. Here's some pics from Lake Alpine:

We were really making an effort this trip to eat healthier than the usual, burgers and chips. We brought up lots of fresh fruit and had barbecue chicken and corn on the cob. If it wasn't for all the beer, I probably would have lost some weight this weekend. Oh well, good times call for good beer! I still wanted to bake a dessert so I decided to try frozen pie and take my first stab at a whole wheat crust. I used whole wheat pastry flour that I bought at Whole Foods and also got the recipe from the Whole Foods website. As soon as I tasted my first bite I decided that I do not like whole wheat pie crust. Yuck! It tastes so bland and boring. But I'm determined to start trying to make healthier substitutions while baking, so this is just the first try of many more. The pie itself was refreshing but not my favorite. It frosted over a little too much, but I think all of this can be blamed on the high altitude and the settings on the freezer that I'm not used to. Here's the recipe:

Whole Wheat Pie Crust

from WholeFoods.com

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/8 tsp salt

7 tbs very cold butter

ice water

Strawberry Pie Filling

(I kinda made this up but it's loosely based on something my Aunt made for dessert years ago)

3 6 oz containers strawberry yogurt

6 large strawberries

1 cup cool whip

Mix flour with salt in a medium bowl or food processor. Cut in cold butter with a pastry cutter. Add ice water, 1/2 tbs at a time, until dough forms into a ball. Gather up and pat into a disc. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes. When ready to use, roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 10-inch circle. Place dough in pie plate and carefully unfold, fitting loosely and then pressing into place. Trim the edges and crimp for a decorative crust. Cool to room temperature.

For filling, blend strawberries and yogurt together in a blender. Stir in Cool Whip and pour filling into cooled pie crust. Chill in freezer for a couple hours. Once frozen, garnish with some sliced strawberries.