Strawberries

Nothing is quite "in season" in Provo.
But strawberries are in season nearby, and with warm weather outside and sun shining in the windows, and strawberries costing less than 5dollars a pound like they do in the winter (and tasting better, too!)
we've started gorging ourselves.
Last night we had strawberry lemonade icebox pie from this months issue of Martha Stewart Living (which is my all-time favorite magazine. I'm obsessed with how much I love it.)
This afternoon we're going to have strawberry, spinach, walnut salad (yum!) and tonight, I'm think drop biscuits with strawberries and cream?
Yes.
That's definitely the plan.




"How do you have time or energy to bake things" you're asking. Especially if you've been to my house lately and you know how little down-time I have.

Here's the answer: I love to cook more than I love showering or sleep.
So when I have a half-hour here or a half-hour there, I spend it in the kitchen.
And slowly, slowly recipes come together.
The pie took over two days. Crust one day, filling the next and finally the topping.
And boy was it worth it.

Do you want to copy me?
Here's the recipe:

Strawberry Lemonade Icebox Pie (from Martha Stewart Living):

For the Crust:

9-10 graham crackers (I ended up using 12)

1/4 cup sugar

coarse salt

5 tbls butter, melted

For the Filling: 

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cups strained lemon juice (about 4 lemons)

2 large egg yolks (reserve white) + 1 large egg

coarse salt

For the Topping:

2 cups sliced strawberries (12oz)

3/4 cups sugar

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

3 large egg whites, room temp (2 saved from earlier)

Crust: 

Pulse crackers in food processor until finely ground. Measure 1 1/3 cups crumbs and discard rest.  Pulse crackers, sugar and 1/4 tsp salt. Add butter and pulse until well combined.

Press evenly into bottom and sides of a oiled pie pan. Freeze for 30 minutes.

Bake crust at 375 degrees until edges start to darken, about 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, reduce oven temp to 325.

Filling:

Whisk together condensed milk, lemon juice, egg yolks and egg, and 1/4 tsp salt. 

Pour filling into warm pie crust and bake until center sets, about 25-30 minutes. 

Transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temp, then refrigerate at least three hours (or overnight.)

Topping: 

Sprinkle berries with 2 tbls sugar, and lemon juice. Let sit 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat egg whites and remaining sugar in a double boiler until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm, about 2-3 minutes.

Transfer to mixer and beat until soft peaks form, 5-10 minutes. 

Spoon berries over pie, and meringue over top. Place pie under broiler until top is just browned, about 2 minutes.