Adventures in my Kitchen...

I heart strawberries ...do you?

I love everything about them...

How they taste....

...and how they look. Aren't they just the cutest little things?

One way we like to eat them around here is like this...

With just a dollop of daisy (sour cream) and sprinkled with brown sugar.

Try it...you'll like it.

I promise.

Every bite tastes like a little bit of heaven.

Another way we like to eat them is in pie....

So put your apron on girls...we're gonna make us a Strawberry Pie...okay...you got one on?...let's begin.

First thing I should say is technically it's cheesecake but we've always called this recipe strawberry pie .... and no...the rolling pin is not for rolling out crust, it's for smashing grahm crackers!

So for the crust....place one sleeve of grahms in a zip lock and smash the heck out of em with a rolling pin. You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups of crumbs.

Place them in your mixing bowl with 3 Tablespoons of sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter...
Mix it up....

...and press into your oven-proof dish. This one is about 9 x 13.
Bake in a 350* oven for 2 minutes only. Set aside while you make the filling.

Whoops...this picture is out of order...this is the part where you pick out your mixing bowl. I chose a teal one by Martha Stewart today because it contrasted nicely with my red spatula!...lol.

For the filling you will need three 8 ounce packages of cream cheese.... 1 cup of white sugar and 2 cups of whipping cream.

Don't whip the cream girls...just pour it in straight!

You will need to juice a fresh lemon and pour 2 Tablespoons into the mixture.

Then you give each half to your daughter and her friend to finish up....and listen to thier squeels of delight while you use the leftover juice to make this...

A nice glass of fresh lemonade...just add sugar to taste along with water and ice.

Enjoy it's refreshing taste while you continue on.

Mix until smooth....take a sip of lemonade...now wipe your hands on your apron and...

Very gently spread the mixture evenly over the crust.

Place it in your fridge so that it can get a good head start on setting up while you make the topping.

You will need 1 box of Danish Dessert. I'm using raspberry because the strawberry is a little too tart for my taste.

Cook according to the instructions on the package. Take a good long sip of lemonade again.

Set it on the backburner to cool a bit while you slice up them yummy strawberries!

First, hull them with a cute little red strawberry huller. I got mine for Mothers Day a few years back.

It's by jo!e...

You want about 4 cups of sliced strawberries.

Wash your spatula and bowl....(my Mom always taught me to use the same bowl instead of dirtying every bowl in the cupboard)...thanks Mom...good advice.

And use your cute little red strawberry slicer to slice em up! It's also by jo!e and came with the huller.

Cute huh? It really makes them nice and uniform in a jiffy.

Pour the Danish Dessert over your sliced strawberries....

This also makes a delicious homemade ice cream topping....but anyhoo...back to the pie....oh!.. and have some more lemonade too.

Spoon it over the filling....

Place it in your fridge to set up for approximately 4 - 6 hours....and resist the urge to clean out your refridgerator....I did!

Go check out a few blogs while you're finishing up your lemonade.

After a nice long break...and several quilt blocks later...make "Hawaiian Haystacks" for dinner. The perfect summer meal and it goes wonderfully with the strawberry pie.
(recipe to be shared at a later time)

For dessert...enjoy some pie.

P.S. While I was making my pie... Nanette

and I were texting back and forth on our iphones...yes I'm an apron wearin multi-tasker...I can bake, take pictures and text at the same time!...anyhoo...She said it sounded delicious... so Nanette...this first piece is for you!