Strawberry Pie

Fresh Strawberry Pie is a summertime favorite at our house and I especially like it when the berries are on sale. Great buy today at .99 cents a pound. I try to make it at least a couple times each year. Here is what I do.

For the crust, I use a recipe that is very freezer friendly. It make 12 pie crusts at a time. I make it in my Bosch. Here is my dozen pie crust recipe.

1-3# can Crisco, I use butter flavor

1# butter, softened

20 cups flour

4 cups ice cold water

1T salt

3T sugar

In Bosch bowl with cookie paddles blend butter and Crisco. Add flour and blend til crumbly. Add salt and sugar. Now add water making a smooth dough. It may seem a bit sticky for pie crust but you will add a generous amount of flour when you are ready to use. Pull apart into 4-5 inch balls, wrapping in plastic wrap. Freeze. When needed, remove and thaw overnight. Roll out onto generously floured surface. Bake at 350 14 minutes or til lightly browned. Freezer life is 1 year. This make a wonderfully workable dough and a fraction of the cost of pre made pie crust.

After your dough is thawed and able to be worked, roll out onto generously floured surface. Roll 2 inches greater than a deep dish pie plate. Roll up and place in pie plate and unroll. Make any repairs with extra dough that is trimmed from the sides. Place any additional pieces on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon for a tasty treat. Bake as directed. Crimp top of pie plate with a fork and also poke holes in the pie crust to prevent blistering. Bake as directed and let cool completely. Now you are ready to make your strawberry pie filling. Here is the recipe:

3# ripe strawberries, washed and trimmed

4T cornstarch

2 cups sugar

2 cups boiling water

1-6oz. package strawberry jello

Your baked deep dish pie shell

Whipped cream for garnish

Place washed berries attractively in pie crust. Blend cornstarch and sugar in a saucepan. Combine with water and cook until thick about 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add jello. Stir until dissolved. Allow to cook but not cold. Pour mixture over berries. Chill for 2-3 hours or more. Garnish with whipped cream.

Blessings for a delicious Strawberry Pie, Suzie

Mars Study

You may note in the side bar in our blog that we use Exploring Creation with Astronomy by Jeannie Fulbright. My youngest son, 11 is really enjoying this learning adventure.

This year, I implemented the notebook that goes along with the text. I has helped the children to be more focused and organized about their science studies. I would highly recommend it.

Lesson 7 in Exploring Creation with Astronomy is all about the planet Mars. For Joshua's enrichment portion of this unit he chose to build a Mars Rover.

I considered having him use Lego's but wanted to get his creative juices flowing a bit more, so we made it an edible Rover instead. He made the list for the store which included Oreo's, Skittles, Hershey bar, chocolate icing, pretzel rods, candy Lego's, Oreo Cakesters, rope licorice and a gold chocolate medallion.

Here is the final result. He had so much fun and made a big mess. We have a small Dremmel tool that I let him use to carve/drill the holes in the Oreos and it took some trial and error, but he finally did it. We had a good discussion about building a strong foundation as well.

Blessings to Joshua on a job well done. Happy Homeschooling, Suzie