I went to the farmer’s market yesterday and was thrilled to see that strawberry season has arrived! There were a number of stands selling them and each one looked more amazing than the last. I bought a whole flat of them. Then as I continued my market voyage, I came across some fresh rhubarb. It’s pie time!

So, I went and bought a frozen crust, because I was already making scampi and scones. I mean, I need a little time to chill on my Sunday. And really, I don’t see any problem with frozen crusts. I think they serve my purposes just fine. And frozen puff pastry is a heavenly thing.

Anyways, I’m off topic. I had crust, strawberries, and rhubarb. So, when I got home with all of these things, my man and I made a pie.

I love cooking in the kitchen with my man.

Cooking in general is more fun with other people, but there is something about a man in the kitchen that I like.

Anyways, the last time that we did this pie, I chose a recipe from Foodnetwork called Grandma’s Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie. It comes up on their site if you want to search for it. When I followed those instructions, I got a pretty good pie. However, it was a little overcomplicated for my tastes. My man said that it was too sweet, too lemony, and had too much cinnamon. All the extra flavoring just seemed to take away from the main ingredients. We couldn’t taste the strawberry or rhubarb! So, looking at my notes from last time, I made a number of major adjustments. I feel confident in taking ownership of this recipe. It is now, Katie’s Strawberry and Rhubarb Pie. Sure, as you can see, it still turned out kinda soupy, (I can never stand to let a pie sit as long as I should before cutting it. Who can? If you cut a pie when still hot, all the filling rushes to fill in the gap because it hasn’t set properly.) but it was really tasty last night. So what if it looks more like a cobbler than a pie! Throw some ice cream on top and no one will notice that it looks a mess.

Katie’s Strawberry and Rhubarb Pie

• 3 cups chopped red rhubarb, fresh
• 2  cups de-stemmed, washed and cut strawberries (in larger pieces)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons minute tapioca
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons butter, cubed small
• 1 egg white beaten with 1 teaspoon water
• two thawed, formerly frozen pie crusts

Mix all the ingredients except the butter and egg white in a large bowl. Pour mixture into thawed, frozen pie crust. Dot the top of the filling with the cubed butter. Lay the second pie crust over the top and crimp the edges together with your fingers. Then, apply the egg wash to the crust with a brush.

Collar the pie with foil and bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature to 375 for the next 45-50 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling.

Let it sit and cool, otherwise you get a soupy mess instead of a pretty pie piece, but it will taste just as good either way!!!