1 pre-baked pie crust
6-7 cups freshly picked strawberries
1 cup honey
1 lemon, halved
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped
3 tablespoons cornstarch
In a sauce pan, add half the strawberries, honey and vanilla bean and simmer on medium low heat. In a small bowl, combine the juice from half a lemon and the cornstarch, then add to strawberries. Let the berries come to a light bubble, then reduce heat to low, stirring constantly, and mash the berries with the back of a spoon. When the mixture is nice and thick, about 3-5 minutes, remove from heat and remove vanilla bean. In the pie crust, arrange the remaining hulled strawberries nicely, then top with cooked berries. Let set in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Serve with freshly whipped cream.
Holly Michaud is a personal chef who works for The Pier, a unique waterfront restaurant in Newport, Rhode Island. She has years of experience in the kitchen cooking for celebrities on various chartered yachts.
If you notice a hole in the upper left-hand corner of your Farmers' Almanac, don't return it to the store! That hole isn't a defect; it's a part of history. Starting with the first edition of the Farmers' Almanac in 1818, readers used to nail holes into the corners to hang it up in their homes, barns, and outhouses (to provide both reading material and toilet paper). In 1910, the Almanac's publishers began pre-drilling holes in the corners to make it even easier for readers to keep all of that invaluable information (and paper) handy.
