Strawberry Pie

It's strawberry season, y'all! This time of year, I can eat strawberries for every meal and not get tired of them. Usually, I like to make strawberry rhubarb pie, but I didn't have any rhubarb this weekend. So I adapted the recipe for just strawberries - yummmmmmm!



Strawberry Pie

4 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup tapioca
1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all together in a medium bowl and set aside for 15 minutes.

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening or lard
4-5 tablespoons cold water

(This makes 2 crusts.) Mix flour and salt together in a large bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture using a pastry blender or by criss-crossing two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add cold water by tablespoon until all flour is wet and pulls away from bowl. Form into a ball.

Divide dough in half. Roll half of dough out on a floured board with a floured rolling pin. Roll dough back onto pin to transfer to 9 inch glass pie pan. Trim excess dough.

Pour filling into pie shell. Dot with small pats of butter. Roll remaining half of dough out and transfer to pie plate to cover filling. Trim dough and crimp edges with bottom crust. Make a few small slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until crust is lightly browned and filling bubbles slightly. (You may want to place a baking sheet until the pie pan to catch any drips!)

Allow to cool completely before serving. Enjoy!!

Granola Bars

I found this "recipe" on one of my new favorite blogs, Health Begins With Mom. Her instructions are for actual granola, with a footnote on how to make granola bars. Since I've made granola bars twice in the last two weeks, I decided to list the recipe here for easier reference.


Granola Bars

6 cups rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1 cup seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin)
1-2 cups chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, peanuts)

1 cup oil (I generally use 1/2 cup melted butter & 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce)
1 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt (reduce amount if nuts are salted)
2 eggs, beaten

The night before, mix oats, flour, and yogurt together with your hands. Break up lumps as much as possible. Loosely cover and place bowl on the counter. Allow to soak at least 7 hours.

Break up clumps and add coconut, seeds, and nuts.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Add oil, honey, vanilla, and salt, and stir until well combined. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

Spread in a 9x13 inch pan and bake for 30-40 minutes in a 350 degree preheated oven. Remove from oven when starting to brown around the edges. Allow to cool slightly, and cut into bars while still warm.

Variations: Add 1/2 cup melted peanut butter when using peanuts for a peanut-y granola bar. Or if you like cinnamon, add 2 tsp. cinnamon with the dry ingredients.