Last night, my grandparents, cousin, sister and mom came over for dinner.  Admittedly, I forgot they were coming, so when my sister reminded me in the middle of the day, I scrambled to get supplies to make an easy dinner.  Picking out the main course was easy – sauteed chicken cutlets, steamed spinach with garlic and oil and mushrooms with mustard sauce (to top the chicken with).  However, I make it a policy to always have dessert, preferably homemade, whenever people come over.

At the supermarket, I spent some time picking out fruit for the week, and decided this would be a good place to start – pie would be a perfect dessert, and a little vanilla ice cream on the side.  But what kind of pie?  My initial thought was strawberry-rhubarb, but I suspected the Foodtown didn’t carry rhubarb (I was right).  Instead, I decided on just strawberry.  Upon getting home, I looked up some recipes, but they all seemed strange (most involved gelatin or cream cheese).  I decided to wing it, and created what turned out to be a really awesome pie.

I think I’ve found a new talent – random pie making!  (I hardly ever follow recipes when it comes to fruit-based pies; I just throw ingredients in a crust – and, yes, I BOUGHT a crust… I know how to make one myself, but it just saves so much time to get the one they sell at the store!).

For the pie, I used two packages of strawberries (do they pack them in pints??).  I cut up 1/4 of them and put them in the crust.  The other three quarters went into a pot with water, sugar and cornstarch (I can’t even begin to give you measurements – everything was guessed and approximate).

The ingredients in the pot were cooked for a bit until they created a chunky, jam-like consistency.  Be careful here though, or the cornstarch will start to cook into a really thick, almost crust-like substance.  Keep stirring to avoid this!

Once the mixture in the pot has thickened, pour it into the pie crust over the non-cooked strawberries.  Mix it all together.  Place the second crust over the top and poke holes in the center (I actually cut out tiny little strawberry shapes).  Beat an egg and brush the exposed parts of the crust with egg wash.  Put it in the oven (which you preheat to 425 degrees) until the crust is golden brown on the top and sides.

Serve (with vanilla ice cream of course; in this case, it was Ciao Bella’s tahitian vanilla gelato) to a willing bunch of family members, including an eager ten-year-old.

Watch as your pie quickly disappears!