Strawberry picking

Yesterday, the girls and I headed to a local farm to pick strawberries with our MOMS Club. Ava had a blast - she has always loved picking blackberries whenever she sees them, so when I told her what we were doing, she ran, got a bucket, and sprinted out the door.

For $1.00 per pound, fresh strawberries picked in the morning sun...it just doesn't get any better than that! Ava and I picked over 4 pounds in under an hour (excluding the many berries that ended up in her mouth...).

I bought some rhubarb earlier this week, so tomorrow I am going to bake myself a strawberry rhubarb pie for my birthday treat. Since we'll have a lot of leftover berries, I might also make a regular strawberry pie. Here are a few recipes that I like to use:

Pate Brisee (Pie Dough)

Courtesy of Martha Stewart

Ingredients
Makes 1 double-crust or 2 single-crust 9- to 10-inch pies.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Directions
In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

my own, inspired by this recipe on epicurious.com

4 cups sliced rhubarb
4 cups strawberries, halved

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tbs cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

Pate Brisee for double crust pie

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients in large bowl.

Roll out one pie crust round and place in pie plate. Pour fruit mixture in. Roll out second pie crust round, cut into stips, layer over pie, alternating to make a lattice. Trim ends, press to seal. Mix an egg yolk with a few drops of milk or water, brush over crust, sprinkle with sugar. Bake on a cookie sheet 15 minutes on center rack, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake until golden, about 1 1/2 hours. Let cool, devour.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
1 (8 ounce) package cream
cheese, softened
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened
condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups fresh strawberries,
sliced

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium mixing bowl, whip cream cheese until fluffy. Add condensed milk and whip until smooth. Add lemon juice and vanilla extract. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
2. Pour cream cheese mixture into baked pastry shell. Top with strawberries. Chill at least 2 hours before serving.