Soothe Your Soul

For my mom, Sue Price and the WF Cooler Dept.

It's still strawberry season in Korea. I don't know why it amazes me but it does. I can tell it's winding down though, because there aren't as many berry dealers at the market and the pricing is starting to inch up. I have a market post that I need to do here soon.... I have all the pictures, but haven't thought it out yet. Guess I need to get working on that.

The girls and I love to go to the market and buy fresh fruits and veggies. Holly is especially giddy because her favorite thing in the whole world (right now) is strawberries. Mostly because they are in season and are just sweet as ever. They are sold by the gram/kilo, not by the pint or quart size plastic container we normally see. She convinced me to buy the size equivalent to 4 large size containers of strawberries, in a way that a child begging her mother to feed her healthy food can.

But what to do with all those strawberries? Simple - make some strawberry pie!

Ahh, but we had another stumbling block. I normally cheat and get the strawberry glaze stuff from the grocery. Yeah, they don't stock that here. So, we made it from scratch using a recipe from Cooking Light. Again, focusing on eating a little healthier with our junk right?!?

Holly really enjoyed making the strawberry juice, and we made her some extra juice to have as a treat (and polish off the strawberries that were really about to turn anyhow). We used a premade crust because I had one and didn't feel like running to the store.

I pasted the recipe we used below.If you have the time and find yourself with an extra 8 cups of strawberries, consider doing the same because it was delicious!

Making the juice and the finished product

Fresh Strawberry Pie from Cooking Light Magazine

Ingredients

Crust:
50 reduced-calorie vanilla wafers
1/4 cup butter or stick margarine, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
Cooking spray

Filling:
2 cups ripe strawberries
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 cups small ripe strawberries
1/2 cup frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed and divided

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare crust, place wafers in a food processor, and process until finely ground. Add butter, 2 tablespoons sugar, and orange rind, and pulse 10 times or just until wafers are moist. Press into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes; cool on a wire rack.

To prepare filling, mash 2 cups strawberries with a potato masher. Combine mashed strawberries and water in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Press the strawberry mixture through a sieve into a bowl, and reserve 1 cup strawberry liquid (add enough water to measure 1 cup, if necessary). Discard pulp.

Combine 2/3 cup sugar and cornstarch in a pan; add strawberry liquid, stirring well with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, and cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice.

Arrange a layer of small strawberries, stem sides down, in the crust. Spoon about one-third of sauce over the strawberries. Arrange the remaining strawberries on top, and spoon the remaining sauce over the strawberries. Chill for at least 3 hours. Serve with whipped topping.

Hope you enjoy as much as we did!