Grandmother's strawberry pie solves cravings

When I was a child, the best reward my parents could give me was a trip to a nearby restaurant for strawberry pie. Piled high with big, juicy strawberries and smothered in whipped cream, that concoction is still one of my favorite summer desserts.

Now that it's strawberry-picking time again in my hometown, a nostalgic craving for the pie has struck like clockwork.

While it's possible to purchase glaze for the pie in grocery stores, we've tried a couple of the brands, only to be sadly disappointed. What good is it to save a few minutes, if you're not happy with the outcome?

Even though today's recipe calls for a bit of boiling and stirring to make your own filling, this recipe for strawberry pie, which I found in my grandmother's recipe box, is not difficult to master. We top our pie in true desperate form using real whipped cream in an aerosol can. Any type of whipped topping will work. For another fresh-strawberry-dessert idea, please visit our Web site at www.kitchenscoop.com.

Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross are co-authors of "Desperation Dinners!" (Workman, 1997), "Desperation Entertaining!" (Workman, 2002) and "Cheap. Fast. Good!" (Workman, 2006). Contact them at Desperation Dinners, c/o United Media, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016, or send e-mail to telluskitchenscoop.com. Or visit the Desperation Dinners Web site at www.kitchenscoop.com.

© Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross.

Distributed by United Feature Syndicate Inc.

Strawberry Pie

Start to finish: 45 minutes preparation, plus 1 hour to chill

1 refrigerated pie-crust dough, such as Pillsbury (see cook's note)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch (see cook's note)

1 cup lemon-lime soda, such as 7 Up

1/2 package (3 ounces) strawberry Jell-O (1/4 cup measure, see cook's note)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

4 cups fresh strawberries, cut into bite-size pieces

real whipped cream for topping, to taste (see cook's note)

Cook's note: For testing, we used Pillsbury refrigerated pie-crust dough and baked the shell at 450 F for 10 minutes.