The House On Canary

STRAWBERRY PIE

Difficulty Level: Easy

Today's inspiration comes from my childhood. Since I was about 7, my family has had a house in Strawberry, Arizona. Yes, that's really the name of the town. It's a very small town, literally a bend in the road, but one thing they do have is the Strawberry Lodge. And in the summertime, they have pie, all kinds, but strawberry has always been my favorite. I would cry every time we would go and they wouldn't have the delectable strawberry version. This weekend, strawberries were on sale, so I decided to make my own. Please let me know if you try this recipe, and how it turned out.

Ingredients
4 c. fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and halved
1 pkg. cream cheese
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 t. cornstarch
1 t. water
pie shell - either graham cracker or dough

Instructions
Begin with baking the pie shell. Either graham cracker or dough will do. I will be giving my recipe for homemade pie crust in another post, so stay tuned. If time is a concern, use pre-made shells. They taste almost as good, and save a lot of time and energy. Bake the shell according to recipe or package instructions. Place on cooling rack and let cool completely.
Place strawberries, water, cornstarch, and remaining sugar into a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir frequently until mixtures comes to a boil. Once mixtures boils, continue to stir until it thickens. Pour filling into bowl and place in refrigerator until cool.

While shell and filling are cooling, put cream cheese and 1/2 c. sugar in microwaveable bowl. Warm in microwave in 30 sec. intervals until the mixture is soft enough to spread. When shell is completely cool, spread in bottom of pie shell.

Once filling has cooled, pour into pie shell and place pie back in the refrigerator until completely set, approximately 3 hours.