The Great Strawberry Pie-Off!

Hi everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I have a great strawberry pie recipe to share.

 But first, a funny picture. My five year old passed out, and the doggy passed out with him. I thought their matching positions were pretty hilarious.

And then there was this. A birthday! The first of the summer crew. I made this Very Hungry Caterpillar I saw on Pinterest. It wasn't quite a fail because the new 4 year old loved it! (See how I wrote his name there, Ruthy? I was tempted to write BABY in big letters just for you, but using curved letters with red licorice is a lot harder than it looks.)

 But it was pretty hot in our house that afternoon and the caterpillar's face was sort of losing its shape.... slowly.

 And then came time to blow out the candle. See how helpful older brother is??
                           
Local cherries are ripe! We got these for $2/ pound at roadside stand. YAY!
                                        
The Rainier are also ripe, but they need a day in the fridge to bring out the sugars. So, I let the kids eat a few then into the cold storage they went.

 SO! Clari Dees posted a GORGEOUS strawberry pie picture and then the recipe. Ruthy also shared her recipe of the same pie. So I thought I should have a pie-off and see how the two compared!

 Essentially, it's the same pie with just a few changes. So, start with strawberries.

 Cut off their heads!

 Little hands grabbing strawberries. Shoo, shoo!

 Ok, two BAKED pie shells. (See, I'm learning!)

Here is Clari's pie. I'm almost ashamed to post this beautiful photo because there is going to be a COMPARISON. *sobs quietly into fist* But in the interest of science... errr, the blog... I'll be brutally honest in the pursuit of the perfect strawberry pie.

 In Clari's recipe:
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbs corn starch
1 cup water
1 package strawberry Jello
 Get the sugar, water, cornstarch to a boil, and then stir in the strawberry Jello. Set it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.

 Layer the cooked pie crusts with strawberries.

 Mmmmmm, I want to eat them all right now.

 Ok, I can hear Ruthy screaming from here. I swear I followed the directions just as she wrote them on Clari's facebook thread.
This is what she said (proving that once it's on the internet, it's FOREVER):

MVM it's really easy.... You crush about 3 cups of berries, add about 1/3 cup water, mix 1/4 cup corn starch with a cup of sugar, then mix with the crushed berries. Heat over medium heat until "glace" is thick and looks like pie filling.... I add a tablespoon of butter, too, to help keep it smooth.... Cool. Then twist the stems off of fresh berries, nestle them into a baked pie crust, and when you have it full, you ladle the cool sauce over it and chill. 

I did everything like she said! I swear! It looks... a little lumpy and weird. 

So, then I take Clari's sauce from the fridge and pour it over the berries. Something is wrong. This looks nothing like the picture. I don't think the Jello set.

 Definitely not set.

 Pooling at the bottom.

 At this point I bring everyone in the taste the pie. My older daughter says, "I don't know what happened but those pies smell like fish. I don't think I'm going to taste it." HA! That was the salmon cooking on the stove. She was relieved to know the pies did not actually smell like cooked salmon.

 Contender Numero Uno: Ruthy's Mash Up.

 Contender Numero Dos: Clari's Mom's Pie

 Gratuitous pie shot.

 First taste goes to Edward and he says, "BOTH". Not helpful.

 Ana said she needed a piece to realllly tell, but finally said she preferred Clari's Mom's recipe.

 Isabel is obviously in cahoots with Ruthy and said she liked the Mash Up.

 Cruz did not appreciate being photographed while tasting pie. But he sacrificed. And said they both tasted the same. VERY UNHELPFUL.
In the end, there were three votes for Clari's Mom's Pie and three votes for Ruthy's Monster Mash! (Cruz liked them both and one child preferred an Oreo, thank you very much.)

 I liked the flavor of Clari's pie better, but something went wrong and it certainly wasn't as pretty as it could be.

Ruthy's Masheroonie Pie was super tasty but I think I should have mashed the berries a bit more before adding them as topping. It definitely thickened up nicely, though.
UPDATE: As of three hours post pie-off, Clari's pie has decided to solidify, and NOW the glacee has has turned to a lovely thick glaze... at the bottom of the pan.

As for a winner, I'm going to need another piece to decide for sure. In fact, I think I'll do that right now... Pie at midnight! Is there anything better?

Until next time, my friends! Oh, and check out my article on Huffington Post Books, if you need some light reading about Jane Austen and the American South. There's no pie in the article, but there are recipes for pie in the second book!