It surely doesn’t get any better than the taste of a warm, sweet strawberry eaten straight from the garden!

We’re in prime strawberry season here in North Carolina, and I’m super excited to take Gemma pickin’ this Friday. With her preschool schedule, Friday’s are the only day we can get out early to snag some good berries before the fields are picked clean.

If you’re anything like us, we pick way more than we could possibly consume (before the mush and mold set in thanks to our humid climate…more on this dilemma later). One year, we picked two flats (or 8 quarts)…we made a few pies and ate berries for breakfast (sliced on cereal), lunch (as a side dish), and dinner (with sweet corn and grilled chicken). A year later, my mom was in town, and we got so many strawberries I was able to freeze 6 quart-sized ziplock bags of them before they expired…and then it took a whole year of smoothies to use them up.

I hate to say I won’t make that mistake again…but let’s be real…I’ll gladly make that mistake again if it means I can indulge in locally grown, succulent strawberries!

While our real ‘field trip’ isn’t until this Friday, G and I cheated and grabbed a flat of berries from Jean’s Berry Patch earlier this week so we could share with you my grandmother’s famous strawberry pie recipe!

Oh, and here’s a trick for washing your berries so they stay fresh longer…“How to Wash Your Fruit” from the Made from Pinterest blog.

I truly hope you enjoy this family favorite as much as we do!!!

Grandma Bratland’s Strawberry Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 quart fresh strawberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 ounces cream cheese (let stand to room temperature)
• 1 pie crust (I prefer to use the Pillsbury pie crust from the roll section but you can make from scratch or use a frozen pie crust already in a foil pie pan, as well.)

Step 1. Bake pie crust according to instructions. Let crust cool completely. Here

• Brush your crust with a coat of lightly beaten egg white to help give it a shiny, golden finish. Visit the kitchn for tips on how to achieve various results with different glazes, including this one: “Finishing Touches: How to Get a Perfect Golden Pie Crust“
• Cover the edges of your pie crust with aluminum foil to avoid over-browning of your exposed crusts. I typically bake per pie crust instructions, then remove the foil 2-3 minutes shy of total baking time…allows the crust to brown without getting too crispy.

Step 2. In a mixing bowl, whip room-temp cream cheese until it reaches a spreading consistency. Carefully spread cream cheese mixture onto bottom of cooled pie crust.

Step 3. Cut 1/2 quart of strawberries into slices and place them (flat) over top of the cream cheese layer in pie crust.

Step 4. Cut remaining 1/2 quart of strawberries into small pieces and put in saucepan. Add sugar and cornstarch and cook ingredients over medium heat until sauce thickens and berries soften (approx 30 minutes).

Step 5. Allow sauce to cool and then pour over previously layered berries in pie crust.

Step 6. (WARNING: THIS IS THE HARDEST STEP!!!!) Chill 3-4 hours in refrigerator. After pie has set, slice and serve with homemade whipped cream (I like this easy tutorial from My Frugal Adventures) or Redi-Whip.

I think this one’s a winner!!!