When I was around 8 or 9, my grandmother, or Nannie as we called her, took me out for lunch for my birthday. I love strawberries; they are my favorite fruit. So for my birthday lunch, I picked a piece of strawberry pie. I remember when the pie came to our table. It was the biggest piece of pie I had ever seen! It had so many fresh strawberries packed into that one slice. My birthday is in the summer so the strawberries were in season and were so sweet. Then all of that sweet goodness was topped with a big dollop of whipped cream. I remember my Nannie telling me that I didn’t have to eat all the pie but I was determined to. And I did! And boy, was it good! That birthday lunch with just me and my Nannie will always stick out as one of my favorite birthday memories.
Today is my Nannie’s birthday and the first birthday that she is no longer here on Earth with us. And while I know that she’s in a far better place, I’m missing her today. So today I am thinking of her and I want to honor her and our memories by making a Strawberry Pie. Unfortunately, strawberries are not in season here yet, so I decided to use strawberries are from our garden that we grew and froze last summer. And since strawberries get mushy when they defrost, I blended the strawberries to a pulp. And instead of topping the pie with whipped cream, I decided to fold the whipped cream into the crushed strawberries. It’s not exactly the same strawberry pie that we shared years ago but it’s still strawberries and cream. And I’m thinking of her and smiling as I eat a piece. This pie’s for you, Nannie. Happy birthday!
Strawberries and Cream Pie
1 9 inch baked pie crust, cooled
1 quart frozen strawberries, partially defrosted
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 8oz. tub light cool whip
In a food processor, process the strawberries until they are an icy pulp.
Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and process for another 30 seconds. Pour the crushed strawberries into a large bowl and add the cool whip. Carefully fold in the cool whip until the strawberries and cool whip are completely combined.Spoon the mixture into a prebaked pie crust. Freeze for 8 hours or overnight before serving so that the pie filling can firm up. Set the pie out on the counter to warm up for 20-30 minutes before serving. It’s best to store the pie in the freezer. It can be stored in the refrigerator but the filling will be like a semi-set pudding. It’s good either way but if you want your slices to be nice and firm then freeze your pie.
Makes 8 slices of pie.
Nutritional information per slice:
241 Calories
10.5 g. fat
8 g. saturated fat
20 mg. cholesterol
151 mg. sodium
33 g. carbohydrates
2.5 g. fiber
14 g. sugar
2 g. protein