Fresh Strawberry Pie & Wine Night

Dear Occasional Sugar,

I have been neglecting you and, for that, I am truly sorry. You see, I started you as a hobby because I needed a hobby. I have a lot of free time and you became an excellent means for me to be more productive during that time (goodbye Hulu). Only now, I have something else to occupy me all day long - planning a wedding! Prior to a few weeks ago, I would spend my time daydreaming about icing and new baking gadgets. Now, I'm thinking about wedding projects - all the things I'm going to tackle myself so that I can save some sweet moolah next year when I walk down the isle.

It's not you, it's me.

I'll try to be better, I promise. Don't worry, I'm still baking. I'm just a little s-l-o-w in getting the posts up. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Love,

Deanna

Ok, so my good friends started up a "wine night." We all take turns hosting about every other week or so. Everyone brings a bottle of wine to share and we taste them all, discuss what we like or do not like about them, and eventually each choose a favorite. It's just a way for us all to try new things and see what we like. This week was our turn to host. We did a Vino Italiano theme this time around. Italian wine and appetizers. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pics of my beautiful friends (please don't judge the lawn chairs, we have a very small apartment):

I really wanted to bake something but I didn't have much time. What I did have, though, were strawberries. Lots of strawberries. I started searching for recipes using fresh strawberries and stumbled across this Fresh Strawberry Pie recipe from the blog, Short Stop. I just love her step-by-step photos. The pie was super-easy. I cheated and used store-bought crust (sorry Paula!) because I didn't have the time or patience to make my own. The filling was so good. Really tart and sweet. I received a lot of compliments and hopefully it wasn't just because we were about 9 bottles deep by the time I served the pie ;)

Strawberry Pie

a family recipe from Short Stop

1 quart (about 2 pounds) fresh strawberries

1 cup sugar

3 Tbs cornstarch

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 unbaked pie crust

Wash strawberries and hull. Chop 1/2 of the berries with into small pieces or process in food processor. Pour crushed strawberries into a sauce pan and begin to cook over medium heat. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl and add to the sauce pan. Add lemon juice and cook on low heat for about 10-20 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat.

Cut remaining strawberries into halves and mix with the cooked mixture. Allow this mixture to cool down on the counter while you prepare the crust.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place pie crust into 9" or 10" pie plate. Flute edges. Prick with fork all over, about 40 times. Place piece of foil inside pie crust, lightly pressing around inside bottom edges of crust. Fill with dried beans. (The beans allow the pie crust to remain its shape.) Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and remove beans and foil. Return to oven and bake for 5 minutes until edges are golden brown. Allow crust to cool to room temperature.

Pour strawberry mixture into baked pie shell. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours, or until pie is set. Serve topped with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.