And if you’re wondering what this has to do with mental health? Just taste the pie…

It’s the end of the strawberry season and it’s time to make our ‘last gasp’ pies. So I’m going to share with you my special secret recipe for Strawberry Glace Pie. Now, when I make this I always get rave reviews from my friends and family so take heed, it’s a winner.

Let us begin, shall we, with the crust. You know that old expression, ‘easy as pie’ well they weren’t talking about the crust! So there are two ways to go here. You can either go find any pie crust recipe you like, and there are tons of them out there, or you can do a good cheat with a Pillsbury pie crust. I didn’t use to like them because they had trans-fat in them but now they have eliminated that. There is some saturated fat in it but you’ll find that in a home made pie crust as well, either way you go is good. In any case you’ll need a 9” baked shell, be sure when you are baking it that you cover the outside edge of the crust (you can use a pre-made pie crust protector form or a aluminum foil if you promise to recycle it and prick the bottom of the shell with a fork a few times so that it won’t pucker.

Here are the other ingredients:
6 cups of fresh strawberries (about 1 ½ qts.)
1 cup sugar
3 tbls. cornstarch
½ cup water

AND

here’s the cool part

1 3oz package of cream cheese, softened
(this is the secret ingredient that totally ‘yummifies’ the pie!)

Bake pie shell, set aside to cool.

Wash and pick through your strawberries and mash enough of them to measure 1 cup.

Stir together sugar and cornstarch.

Place sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan over medium heat and gradually stir in the water and crushed strawberries. This is the part that requires dedication because you have to keep stirring so you don’t get the dreaded cornstarch lumps.

The mixture will thicken and boil. The consistency will be roughly that of strawberry preserves. Let cool.

Beat cream cheese until smooth and spread on bottom of baked pie shell.

Now, depending on the sweetness of your berries you can use them as they are or add sugar to taste. Halve or quarter your berries depending on size.

Pour the ‘berry sauce’ over the berries and mix gently.

Then pour all of that on top of the cream cheese in the baked pie shell and you are done!

Voila!

You may want to put the pie in the fridge for an hour to help the ‘strawberry sauce’ set up.

This pie does not require ice cream or whipped cream, it is perfect as it is. But remember, strawberry pies don’t keep well so you and your family need to eat it in one sitting. Heartbreaking news eh?

Enjoy!

Lagniappe! ( A little something extra)

If you have some pie dough scraps left over you can roll them out and cut them into 2” strips. Butter the length of the strip and sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar, lots of, and slowly roll it up. If you really want to ‘go for it’ as you are rolling butter the outside as well and sprinkle with your cinnamon and sugar mixture. Pop these in the oven on a cookie sheet with the pie shell as it is cooking. But don’t leave them too long because they will burn, just keep your eye on them and you’ll know when the time is right. These are quite handy for subduing small children, large husbands or boyfriends and deserving chefs while they are waiting for pie.

Dr. Margaret Cochran has been an educator and professional therapist for more than 28 years. With graduate degrees in Education, Social Work and Transpersonal Psychology she has worked with a wide variety of clients, both individual and organizational.

Dr. Cochran is the host of the internet radio show, ‘Wisdom, Love and Magic!’, which is number one on iTunes for mental health programming. She is also the author of ‘Sylvia and the Magic Power Sticks’ a fairy tale about how shame is often an integral part of everyday life.  For more information please visit www.drcochran.com

Photo credit © Hmproudlove | Dreamstime.com

Tags: Dessert, pie, strawberries