Wimpy me.

The last few weeks have been so hooooooot. When I say hot I mean 83 degrees. I know, I know. I am pathetic. I have experienced "real hot". I have lived through the sticky humid summers of Texas and Wisconsin, I have spent a summer in an old broken down school bus traveling up the East Coast in sweltering weather. It was so hot that your skin would meld with the hot pleather school bus seats and you would have to peel your sticky hot legs up one by one when the bus stopped. I spent one summer in Jamaica doing manual labor where the sweat was dripping off in buckets (attractive, I know) I don't think anything is hotter than Jamaica in July than perhaps hell itself. So yeah... I have experienced hot.

I moved to paradise (aka Southern California) eight years ago and I have completely wimped out over the years. When I first got here and I would hear people complaining about it being soooo cold in the winter (50 degrees) or soooo hot in the summer (80 degrees) I would smile that condescending smile of someone who knows better and think, "um, really? You think this is cold/hot? Have you ever left the beach and experienced the real world? Oh... Bless your poor wimpy heart."

Those words are coming back to haunt me now. I have totally acclimated to the beach life and "inland" is about three miles away which is a totally unacceptable place to live and anything over 75 degrees and under 55 degrees is just miserable. I now complain when paradise is not as paradis-ey as I want it to be. It is 83 degrees today and I am sitting on my couch with a box fan aimed directly on me and sipping ice cold green tea blogging about how hot it is. No need to say it, I know I am pathetic.

On the upside, a few days ago I made the perfect "hot summer" dessert. Strawberry pie! It is light and refreshing and so easy to make! Next to Key Lime Pie (which is my favorite) this is the best summer dessert. Here you have it!

Strawberry Pie

Ingredients

Crust:

2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling:

2 lbs. fresh strawberries

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cup water

2 Tbs. cornstarch

1 small pkg. strawberry Jello

Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/8 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions

Crust:

Mix graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until well blended. Press mixture into a 9” pie plate. Bake at 375°F for 7-8 minutes. Cool and fill with pie filling.

Filling:

Boil sugar, water and cornstarch until thick. Add Jello and stir until completely dissolved. Cool for 15-20 minutes. Add strawberries that have been rinsed and sliced. Pour into pie shell and refrigerate overnight or until mixture is jelled.

Whipped Cream:

In a large bowl, whip cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Top chilled pie with whipped cream and serve.