Strawberry Pie

You don't need me to tell you what this is, do you?

 I came to like fruit pies late in life. Growing up, I passed on all pie except pecan--even on Thanksgiving. Something about cooked fruit just didn't sit right with me. In the early 80s, my mom started making blueberry pies with Mrs. Edgerton's recipe--and they were explosively good. Fresh berries set in a graham cracker crust and sealed with just a bit of melted currant jelly to hold it all in place. This pie is sorta like that, but more. It's my kinda pie--a flaky wheat crust spread with cream cheeze and filled with fresh, local Louisiana strawberries and a homemade jam to keep it all together. Of course you can use any kind of strawberries you like, but for me, Ponchatoula is the strawberry capital of the goddamned universe. For true? For true. I can't wait for blueberry season, and then for fresh peaches, so I can try a peach version with raspberry jam...and then I dunno, maybe figs??

 
What You Need:

• A pre baked and cooled pie crust, I used this one.
• 1/4-1/3 tub Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
• Approximately 1 1/2 quarts of fresh strawberries (enough to fill an entire pie plate, plus an extra cup to mash), washed and with the hulls cut off. Cut the tops as straight as you can so the strawberries stand up easily in your pie plate.
• 1 cup unbleached granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water

What You Do:

1. Mash up enough strawberries to make one cup. Mash them really well, or throw them in your food processor and pulse them a bit, go slow so you don't end up with soup.
2. In a medium saucepan, blend together the sugar and cornstarch. Stir in the water and mashed berries.
3. Over medium high heat, cook stirring all the while until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Reduce heat so you don't get splattered and keep stirring for one minute. Remove from heat and cool.
4. While the jam you made cools, stir the cream cheeze until soft, and spread it onto the bottom of the cooled pie crust. Try to keep it off the sides as much as possible, or, go crazy and put it on the sides too, more can be better, huh?
5. Top the cream cheeze with your strawberries, pointy side up. I started in the middle and worked my away around in circles. You will want to place them along the edges too. I found that putting the tallest in the center is best, because the jam is deepest there. You might have to rearrange them a bit to get it to look the way you want, but don't worry about making it look perfect since the jam covers up a lot and fills in any gaps (especially on the sides).
6. Pour the cooled jam evenly over the whole thing and refrigerate several hours until set.