Mama's Fresh Cream Strawberry Pie

by Sophia


Yesterday we went to Oaks Park for the Scandinavian Midsummer Festival, but it looked a little too much like the Farmer's Market so we decided to go on four of the rides instead. 

The rides were very very fun! We all had cherry flavored snow cones and they were delicious! We stayed for 3 hours! 

When we got back, Mama made fresh cream strawberry pie for us and it was delicious!

Here is the recipe:

Strawberry and Whipped Cream Pie (makes one 10-inch pie)

Crust:

1-1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

6 Tablespoons melted butter

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Mix everything together by hand, and press firmly into a 10-inch springform pan.  The crust should also go up the sides of the pan about three inches.  Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes, until it has firmed up a bit.  Let it cool while you prepare the filling.

Filling:

5 cups strawberries, washed and stems removed.

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon gelatin powder, soaked in 1/4 cup cold water

Roughly chop one cup of the strawberries and place in a small saucepan with the sugar.  Cook until reduced to a puree.  Remove from the heat, then stir in the soaked gelatin.  Mix with the remaining strawberries, then immediately pour into the cooled crust.  Spread the out so the top is level, then prepare the whipped cream topping.

Topping:

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1 Tablespoon powdered sugar

1 teaspoon gelatin powder

2 tablespoons milk

Whip the cream and sugar to stiff peaks.  Soak the gelatin in the milk for two minutes, then heat gently until dissolved.  Gradually fold the whipped cream into the gelatin, then spread on top of the strawberries.  Chill for several hours before removing from the pan and slicing.

Strawberry Jam

A few days ago we got half a flat of strawberries from our very excellent CSA (Helsing Junction Farm), which of course needed to be made into jam. Last year I made that same amount into freezer jam but it only lasted a couple months. So this year I wanted to make more (potentially enough to get us through the year) and can it instead.

I needed more strawberries.

After going to four different stores I realized that strawberry season must be coming to a close in our neck of the woods.

The Farmer's Market was my last hope.
And luckily, I was just in time to pick up the last two flats from the Deep Roots Farm booth. Phew.
It took a significant portion of two afternoons, but we now have 30 pints of homemade strawberry jam (some of which may be more like syrup since I took the rather bad advice from one internet site and made the first batch without pectin).
Here's the recipe that seemed to work best (and took the least amount of time):

4 cups smashed strawberries
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp Pomona's pectin
2 tsp calcium water (comes with the pectin)

Sterilize the jars and lids in boiling water for awhile - 10 minutes or so.
Put the squashed berries, lemon juice, and calcium water in a pot and bring it to a boil.
Add the sugar and pectin.
Stir well for a couple minutes.
Return to a boil, then remove from the heat.
Fill your sterilized jars to about a half inch from the top.
Secure lids and return the jars to the boiling water for 15 minutes.
Remove from water and you're done (except for that mountain of dishes you just created).

Homemade is Better Pt. 2

Inspired by this post on Angry Chicken, I decided to make butter yesterday. Sheesh it was so easy.
Here's all I did:

1) Put heavy whipping cream on the kitchen counter for a couple hours.
2) Then poured it into a mason jar and lidded it.
3) Tried to get the kids to shake the jar for me. Failed.
4) Shook the jar myself for maybe 5 minutes while I simultaneously weeded the garden (bind weed is my mortal enemy).
5) When I could see that my cream had become butter, I poured the buttermilk into one container and put the finished butter in the other.

That's it.

And it's good. Seriously.

Probably there are additional things you could do to make sure your butter lasts longer - I've heard rumors of washing it - or flavor it in some special way (a very zealous cook from Mother Earth News suggested rose water - lovely!) - but this simple procedure did the trick.

Yay us. Homemade butter on homemade bread. I feel so old-school Martha.

Homemade is Better

Here's something I'll never buy ready-made or concentrate again: lemonade. I made it today, for the first time, and oh my goodness, yum. Try it, you'll see!

You'll need:
4 (organic) lemons
1 cup (organic) sugar
1 qrt. water

Juice the lemons but don't toss the rinds. Instead, chop them up a bit and put them in a large bowl. Cover them with the sugar, mix a little, and come back in 30 minutes. Now pour boiling water on top of the rind/sugar mixture. When the water is cool, strain the sugar water off and now you can toss the rinds (into your compost). Strain the reserved lemon juice into the sugar water mixture. Chill awhile. Serve with lots of ice.

Seriously, you'll never drink it any other way again.