HIS WAY OR HER WAY: CHALLENGE - GRANDMA'S BEST SUMMERTIME DESSERT

Every time I think of strawberry pie, I think of Grandma. It is easily one of my favorite desserts. She always made perfect pies that every one loved. Maybe it was because she loved pies so much. Grandpa grew strawberries in the front garden out in the field, so we always had a ready supply in the summer. Her recipe called for whole strawberries. I wondered how it would look with the strawberries cut up. I made a pie for my daughter and cut up the strawberries. Tastes the same, but the whole strawberries made a better looking presentation.

I did not make my crust from scratch. I bought a frozen pie shell. I baked it to a light golden brown. The package stated to bake at least 10 minutes at 400 degrees. I shaved off 2 minutes and baked it for 8 minutes.

Don't let your pie crust get any darker than a light golden brown!!!

HER WAY: GRANDMA'S STRAWBERRY PIE

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 heaping TBS of corn starch
2 heaping TBS of dry strawberry Jello mix
20 drops red food coloring
1 large container of strawberries
1 baked pie shell

Ingredients used in recipe:

Heat water, sugar and corn starch in a saucepan. Remove from heat immediately when mixture starts to boil. Mixture will be thick.

Add Jello and red food coloring to mixture. Mix well. Remove any lumps if necessary. Set saucepan in fridge to cool.

Cut off tops of strawberries to remove green stem. Rinse well.

When glaze mixture is cooled, add strawberries and mix well.

Pour into a baked pie shell. Place in fridge to finishing cooling off and to firmly set the glaze. Top each piece of pie with a whipped topping when serving.

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This is Pete's favorite summertime recipe of Grandma's. We can date it back to her mother, Great-Grandma Ida Hodson. This is a family favorite that isn't limited just to our immediate family. Our cousins cherish and devour this cake too. In fact, our adorably sweet cousin, Jodi, says she has many times asked for this cake for her birthday.

Pete used canned cherries when he made this recipe, but he recommends fresh cherries if possible for an ever better flavor. He also made his own buttermilk by adding 1 TBS of lemon juice (or white vinegar) for every cup of milk. Mix it well and let it set for 10 minutes.

HIS WAY: GREAT-GRANDMA IDA HODSON'S CHERRY COBBLER CAKE w/ COUSIN JUDY'S CHERRY SAUCE

2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 TBS melted butter or oil (canola or vegetable)
1 cup buttermilk with 1 tsp soda added
2 pints of cherries drained (reserve juice for sauce)

Judi Smith's cherry sauce:
Reserved cherry juice, 1/2 cup of water, 2.5 TBS of corn starch, 1/2 tsp of almond extract. Combine all ingredients in med saucepan, cook over med heat until thickened, stirring often to prevent sticking and burning.

Ingredients used in recipe: