The Jell-o Project: Strawberry Pie and Fourth of July

And the winner for best use of Jell-o in a dessert is . . . Strawberry pie.

There is only one member of the family who passes on my strawberry pie, and that is my fruit-despising son Isaac. I am comforted only by the fact that one day his taste buds will mature and he will regret the years spent spurning this spectacular fruit.

Strawberry pie makes a great dessert, a fine lunch and a brilliant breakfast. These fruit gems don't last long, so you need to ingest them while you can before they're gone. Here's how to make my strawberry pie. Okay, it's really my mom's strawberry pie, but I've made this pie so many times this summer, I think I can claim it as my own.

One pie crust
4-5 cups of in-season, local strawberries, washed and hulled
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 TB corn starch
3 TB strawberry Jell-o
2 TB corn syrup

Bake crust while you prepare strawberries by washing and hulling. In a saucepan, combine sugar, water and cornstarch and stir over medium high heat until thickened and boiling. Remove from heat and add 3 TB strawberry Jell-o and 2 TB corn syrup. Stir to combine. Cool slightly, then mix in strawberries to coat and dump strawberries and sauce combo into pie crust and refrigerate for about 3 hours until set. Serve with whipped cream. NOT COOL WHIP.

Make this pie during strawberry season. That means June if you live in Oregon. Please do not make this pie in November with rock-hard strawberries that were grown in a lab in Argentina. The pie will not be the same. Use berries that are local, that you pick yourself or get from a fruit stand, and that are so juicy and fragile they will only last a day or two in the fridge before going bad.

I made this particular pie with berries from Mark's NW Fresh Produce where I won a whole flat in their weekly Facebook drawing. So. Awesome.

I love strawberries.