It’s berry pickin’ season y’all!  The south is ripe with fields of strawberries ready for the picking!  I have picked berries since I was a very little girl, so I consider myself a professional.  Strawberries are good to pick because they’re a larger berry and easier to grab and pull.  I love sampling a few along the way too.  There is virtually no guilt since berries are delicious and healthy.  The color is beautiful and a good reminder that winter is finally over.  

Berries right from the patch!

One piece of advice:  If you are picking at a farm that isn’t organic, wear sleeves or bring wipes.  My arms became itchy from looking through the plants for berries.  I noticed a dust (pesticide) on the plants and my skin reacted a little – nothing major, but wipes would be great.

Yummy!

I decided to make a pie with some of my berries.  My recipe does not include Jello, gelatin, or the pre-made red gooey filling from the grocery store.  Usually I wouldn’t be judgemental about buying pre-made ingredients….but the chemicals that are in ingredients for strawberry pie are gross and unnecessary.  With that said, spend the extra 5 minutes (literally) and DIY from scratch for the filling.  I did buy a pre-made crust but couldn’t bring myself to buy the Red 40.  The pie is so simple.  It takes about 15 minutes of work from start to finish!

You’ll need:

1 Crust (either make one or buy it)
3-4 Cups of halved berries
1 Cup crushed berries
1 Cup Sugar
3 TBS Corn Starch
1/2 Cup Water (Or add another cup of crushed berries)

Start with Berries

Bake the crust and allow to cool.  Slice 3-4 Cups of berries and crush one cup of berries.  I crushed one extra cup of berries to make the pie thicker and this cup replaces the water.

Ingredients

On the stove, combine crushed berries, sugar, and corn starch.  Stir constantly while bringing the pot to a boil.  The mixture will thicken but has a definite tendency to stick to the bottom.  Stir, Stir, Stir!

Combine ingredients

Pour the 3-4 cups of sliced berries into the pie crust.  It doesn’t have to look perfect.  Pour the hot mixture over the cold berries and fill in the cracks between the berries with the mixture.  Allow the pie to chill in the refrigerator for several hours.

Yummy!

Serve either by itself or with whipped cream or ice cream.  It is so good and relatively healthy (for pie).  My berries were too heavy and broke the crust once I plated a piece – but it is a good problem to have….Eat up!

Easy as Pie!