An Arizona Recipe for Spring

Yummy fresh strawberry pie!

 Here I am in Phoenix helping my friend Annie to recover from a knee replacement.  The weather is perfect with temperatures in the high 70's and 80's with lots of sunshine!  Today it is actually going to get up into the 90's but I am loving it.  The strawberries are in season down here now and so we have been enjoying them along with fresh asparagus.  Annie gave me a very easy and quick recipe for the strawberries that is so good we have had it twice and I may even make it again.   Here it is for all the northerners who can look forward to it in a couple months when strawberries are in season up there.

 STRAWBERRY CREAM PIE

 

This is how the pie looked just before we "dug in".

 Ingredients:

1  8oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/4 Cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

dash of nutmeg

1 Cup strawberries, mashed

2 Cups Cool Whip, thawed

1 purchased chocolate cookie crumb pie crust (can use graham cracker crust too)

Mashed up fresh strawberries.

Cream cheese ready to be "softened " in the mixer.

 Procedure;

  Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg.  Mix until well blended.  Mix strawberries into cream cheese mixture.  Fold in cool whip.  Spoon into crust.  Chill several hours or overnight.  Garnish with additional strawberries if desired.

The "store boughten" cookie crust.

 In the interests of actually posting this instead of waiting for a good strawberry memory, I'll just post the recipe and pictures.

Another piece of yummy pie just waiting to be eaten!