Strawberry Cream Pie

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend. Our weekend was a little frustrating because I hate running around all day. On Saturday we were out all day going from store to store and on Sunday it was the same sort of day, only we went to church first :) Monday was a fulfilling day because a lot of housework was accomplished. At the end of the day, I made a yummy Fourth of July meal which always includes BBQ and macaroni salad (or potato salad) and this time the dessert was Strawberry Cream Pie. I first tasted this pie about five years ago at Bob Evans (I don't care for that restaurant, but hubby wanted a Thanksgiving style meal, and this was before my Thanksgiving in a bowl recipe. I'll post that recipe in the future). Anyway, they had this pie and it was pretty tasty. But a whole pie costs close to $15 which is ridiculous, so I figured out how to make it at home. Here is what you need:

Graham cracker crust (store bought is fine)
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 small container of Cool Whip
1 c powdered sugar
strawberries
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
vanilla and lemon juice (optional)
whipped cream (for garnish)

Cream together the cream cheese and powdered sugar. If you want, you can add a splash of vanilla and lemon juice at this point. Fold in the Cool Whip. Pour into graham cracker crust and refrigerate. I put mine in the freezer for about 30 minutes to help speed up the process.

I made my graham cracker crust. Here's how I did it:

1 sleeve of graham crackers (about 1 1/2 C)
6 Tbsp of butter, melted
1/4 C sugar

Mix everything together and press into pie pan. Bake at 375 for about 7-8 minutes. Let cool before adding filling.

For the crust I let my pan cool just enough so it wouldn't crack in the freezer, then I put it in there to cool down enough to add my filling. After I put my filling together, I just added it to the crust and put it back in the freezer. Make sure it doesn't freeze though because it will be nearly impossible to cut a slice that has any crust on the bottom. Before serving, mix granulated sugar and strawberries together. Add to pie and garnish with whipped cream. Enjoy!

After we ate, we went to see fireworks. It was a really nice day!

I like this shot. Doesn't it look like a flower?

I really wish this picture turned out better because these were cool to see. It looked like it was raining fireworks. They let off a few of the "raining" fireworks so that it looked like a tree. It was pretty!

 

Apple