Strawberry Pie

It has been excessively hot in Seattle lately. There is something about high temperature here that make them somehow much higher than the same ones in the Bay Area. I hear tell of mugginess. It might also be that the dorms never turn off the heaters.

But tonight there is a cool breeze, and I have baked a strawberry pie (the only oven is 3 floors away from where I sleep, which is inconvenient, but a bonus when it's really too hot to cook). I think this is a sign. A sign for me to eat pie.

This pie was much more organized and orderly than my apple pie, possibly due to my using a recipe.

Only slightly modified from the one I found at cooks.com. They use far too much sugar, and clearly don't cook in a dorm.

1 deep dish pie crust shell
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2-3 tbsp. sugar, divided usage.
1 1/2 qts. fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and quartered
4 tsp. cornstarch

Whipped cream

1. Prepare pie crust according to directions for empty baked crust, cool.

2. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and roughly 1.5 tablespoon sugar, stir until smooth; spread into bottom of baked crust.

3. Puree (or chop finely, if you lack pureeing abilities) half of the strawberries.
4. In a pan, combine pureed strawberries, remaining sugar and cornstarch. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until mixture thickens (about 7 to 10 minutes).

5. Remove from heat, stir in remaining strawberries. Let cool 2 minutes, pour into crust. Refrigerate at least 3 hours (does anyone actually do that? Eat it right away, people, live a little!); serve with whipped topping. Serves 8. Well, maybe just 4.