Originally Posted April 8, 2012

Strawberry pie became an Easter tradition a few years ago with my brother and sister-in-law.  I had been searching for a strawberry pie recipe – not a chilled strawberry pie, but a hot strawberry pie.  I looked high and low, but no one seemed to make them (I’m sure there are recipes out there, so don’t be offended if you have one and I did not find/use it!).

After my failed search, I decided to just use a blueberry pie recipe and substitute strawberries!  I use about 1/2 of the sugar that the blueberry pie calls for because strawberries are already so sweet.

I’m not sure why strawberries are left out of the normal pie selection, but I suggest you make one today!

Strawberry pie (adapted from the blueberry pie)

Crust:
1 cup shortening ( ½ butter, ½ Crisco)
3 cups flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ cup cool water

Make and roll out top and bottom crusts in usual manner.  Chill if making on a hot day and butter starts melting.

Filling:
6 cups strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
Grating of the peel of one lemon
1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter.

Mix the filling ingredients together and place in unbaked pie shell.  Dot the butter in small pieces on the filling.  Cover with pie shell cover, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 1 hour or until the crust is brown and you can see the butter bubbling out of the holes.
Start the oven at 420 and then reduce to 350 after 10 min.
Let pie cool before serving.

Originally posted August 31, 2011

“Floy Curl’s Chocolate Pie.”  I’ve had this recipe in my recipe binder as long as I can remember.  I had never made the pie, and I always wondered whom Floy Curl was.  Well, now both issues have been solved!  The pie is delicious and Floy Curl is our family friends’ grandmother and great-grandmother!

I was home with my sister a few weeks ago, so of course we had to bake something!  I’m not sure how we settled on chocolate pie, but it was an excellent choice.  We swapped the meringue topping with whipped cream and grated some chocolate over the top to make it look pretty (for the blog, my family doesn’t really care what desserts look like. We are more concerned with the taste).  Houston was so hot (it is August) that the butter started to melt in the pie crust, so I had to pop it in the fridge for awhile.

My nephew Reid was an integral part of making the pie.  He supervised while drinking some tea (you think I’m joking, but I’m not, check out the pictures below).

Alternative Butterscotch Pie (I hope to try this soon): Substitute dark brown sugar for cocoa and add an additional tablespoon of flour.

Floy Curl’s Chocolate Pie

Prepare a crust (I used the one from the blueberry pie)
Bake until golden.
 

Warm the following over low heat for a minute or so, stirring constantly:
1 cup sugar
4 T. flour
6 T. cocoa
Make a well and add 3 egg yolks.

Slowly add and stir in:
1 ¾ cup milk (preferably warm)
3 T. butter
pinch of salt

Remove from “fire” (that’s what the recipe says) when thick and bubbly.

Add:
½ tsp. vanilla

Pour into baked crust.
Add whipped cream on top  (the key to making whipped cream is to have all utensils (bowl and beater) cold before whipping up the cream, adding sugar (1/4 cup), and a little vanilla (1/2 to 1 tsp.).