Strawberry Pie

It's time to pick strawberries in the state of Wisconsin...yum! I have great memories of eating fresh strawberries as a kid during this time of year, but I didn't pick any until I was an adult. There was a place in Green Bay but kids weren't allowed. The crusty old farmer working there said that it was due to their insurance but, thinking about it as an adult I'm having a hard time believing that fact, since other people I know remember picking strawberries as a family activity. I would think that the strawberry insurance people would have similar rules for other fields...hmmmm. Anyway, strawberry picking for me is memories of sitting in the back of the station wagon with my brothers and crayons and paper and a frisbee while our parents picked.

Fortunately things are a bit different now in the Milwaukee area and Eleanor has grown up picking berries every summer with me. It's one of those things that makes me really happy....ripe berries, sunshine, blue skies, families out together doing an activity. I love seeing the kids (mine included) with red strawberry juice ringing their mouths. I'll gladly pay a tiny bit more for berries to compensate for those eaten in the field.

When she was little we picked at a place called Fletchers but are now picking at Basse's. My friend Kelly assures me that Basse's bought some of the equipment from our former favorite pick your own place, so it's similar. Fletcher's sold out and is a subdivision called.......Strawberry Fields (honestly, I couldn't make this up).

The drink on the left is strawberry milk...a blend of strawberries, milk and ice. Eleanor highly recommends it.

I wanted some strawberries but not an overwhelming amount. I made the pie mentioned in this blog. This recipe is similar to a blueberry pie recipe that I'll blog about some time in the future. Anyway, what I like about it is the fruit is not completely cooked down into a jam-like substance...rather, the fruit taste really comes through in both recipes. I made it fairly close to the recipe in the link; however, I did decrease the sugar to 3/4 c or so since the berries are so sweet. I make my own crusts but any crust could be used.

Our mutual friend Judy picked 100 pounds the other day! Wow! When I called around checking on picking for the day we could go one pick your own place was completely picked out and closed for a couple days. Not that I'm blaming Judy:)

When we called Basse's the recording told us the berries were small but sweet. We didn't think they were all that small...but they are correct that they are sweet. It ended up that it is the place I like anyway, so it all worked out well.

We'll probably freeze a few, eat some fresh, make a few smoothies now, and will enjoy this strawberry pie. I think Eleanor has been dreaming about chocolate dipped berries, so that may be a project for her.






Print Page