Summer Treats: Strawberry Pie

Years after ripping out a Strawberry Pie recipe from Family Circle magazine, I finally decided to make this delicious summer dessert. And to my surprise, this was one of the BEST pies I have ever had (literally amazing). This no-bake (apart from the crust) treat is the perfect accessory to an outdoor BBQ or summer party and is fairly easy to make. All you need is:

Ingredients

• CRUST
  6 ounces Nilla wafer cookies (graham crackers or a package of plain cookies/biscuits works too)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• FILLING
  2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup cran-raspberry juice (I used plain cranberry juice and it worked just as well)
• 2 quarts strawberries (8 cups), hulled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Summer Drinks: Homemade Lemonade

Picture from:
http://koreeunveiled.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html

1 pitcher

3-4 lemons 

1 cup sugar

3 cups water

Ice cubes

1. Roll the lemons on a hard surface before cutting each in half (this makes it easier to juice). 
2. Juice the lemons and add the juice to the pitcher.
3. If you want to make the delicious old school lemonade then continue by adding the water and sugar to the lemon juice in the pitcher. Continue adding sugar/water to make it more or less sweet.
4. If you want to try something more adventurous, but also delicious, continue by making a syrup by boiling 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar before adding that to the lemon juice. After combining the lemon juice with the sugar syrup, add 3 more cups of water (more or less depending on the preferred sweetness)
5. Add ice cubes and slices of lemons for a cool and refreshing drink. ENJOY! 

P.s. The syrup works really well for blending the sugar and water. I tested it out the other day and it works really well! 

What are your favorite summer drinks??

*Kirsten