Patriotic Strawberry Pie!

In honor of the Third of July and due to the fact that my afternoon pool plans were rained out, I baked!

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The patriotic strawberry pie started with a phone conversation with my mother, while I was grocery shopping. It always amuses me when strangers come up and strike up a conversation, even more so when I clearly have a cell phone to my ear and am talking to someone on it.
My mother is not nearly as amused by this. Being from a place where you don't know your neighbors, and you certainly don't say hello to people or make eye contact while out shopping, she is constantly worried when "strange men" start talking to her daughter. Almost without fail, someone stops me in the store and starts to tell me a story. The first time it happened I was admittedly frightened. Now I entertain the conversations and the people are always nice. The gentleman who spoke to me as we were standing in front of the strawberries and glaze was telling me how they make a sugar free version that is sold at Ingles down on Emory Road. He gave me suggestions for when I go to Dollywood. Though at this time I don't have plans to go, I need to put it on my to-do list as I haven't yet been there. I love Dolly Parton! He was quite chatty and full of strawberry glaze related information. Very sweet man.
So I picked out some fresh strawberries, a bag of red gooey stuff and set off to make a pie!
I blind baked a frozen pie crust, put some mini chocolate chips in the bottom while it was still warm and let it cool. The chocolate serves as a barrier to keep the crust from getting soggy. Also, strawberries and chocolate are pretty amazing together! I filled it with fresh sliced berries and the glaze. Then I realized I should make it more festive. I always have homemade rainbow cookie dough in the freezer. I baked off some little stars and used the blue ones for the top of the pie. The result was a super cute patriotic pie and by the time I was done I realized I'm probably not going to eat the whole thing. I called Bev and asked if she wanted it for the church bake sale and she was elated.
Everybody loves pie. I love making them.