Thankfully our return to mid-Maryland yesterday was relatively uneventful, which is to say that the dog did NOT vomit on me this time. And that’s all I’m going to say about that. In addition to a pretty pleasant ride home, we arrived in time to see vegetative splendor all over the garden. WOW! Everything is going crazy and it is such a joy to tame it all again by eating. 
This morning I harvested a shoe box full of peas (note to self, be more clear about dividing into shelling and non shelling when planting. They’ve married one another and made things a bit tricky, but delicious. The cauliflower actually has little cauliflower nubs in it. The onions are going gangbusters and the beets and carrots have enormous greens on top. The lettuce withstood the unseasonable heat and all the new plantings done in haste before our trip seem to have settled in. The tomatoes look dubious, as usual, but that’s a post for another day as I don’t wish my garden gratitude to be spoiled.
We had originally planned to go the store this morning to pick up more supplies for our trip-empty fridge and within an hour of harvesting, it was very clear that we wouldn’t need to go anywhere. YAY! All sounds great, right? 
It is, and I’ve saved the best for last… oh my, how I love fresh strawberries… This colander is a full size variety. There were A LOT of strawberries waiting for me, which is extra swell because we had a special guest coming for dinner. I figured it was a good time for strawberry pie. But friends, I have to tell you, the traditional strawberry pie with the goo, well let’s just say that when it comes to food, I’m a no-goo kind of gal. So I did a quick internet search for fresh strawberry pie… and I got an extraordinary number of either gooey or too cooked for my liking berry suggestions. Looks like it’s time to make a new wheel. I changed my search approach when I remembered someone saying something about strawberries and balsamic vinegar…. and the search was on. This sounded more like what I had in mind.
So I hulled and sliced about a pound and a half of strawberries,
put them in a bowl with a tablespoon of balsamic and a tablespoon of sugar and let them sit there.
I defrosted a tart shell made on another day – although a regular pie crust would have been fine.
When dinner was complete, I put the balsamacized strawberries into the tart shell and made an attempt at a decorative drizzle with almond yogurt.
Delish. Truly fresh strawberry pie, served to a new friend, and a fine feast from the garden. Welcome home indeed!
Love this new take on strawberry pie, definitely looks delicious!
Each strawberry from a tiny seed!
Oh wow is right! I can’t stand overwhelming goo either – give me more fruit! I have green thumb envy.
If I show you pictures of my tomato plants your envy might wither a bit. I have to confess that the bounty that we’re experiencing this spring seems to have little to do with skill on my part, more about finally getting a Spring planting in and NOT killing it by drowning everything.
It’s a fine balance isn’t it? Some of our tomatoes have blossom end rot so we looked up the causes and one is too much fertilizer….and we have hornworms and some other bug that creates yellow spots on the tomatoes…They’re definitely the trickiest crop for us. And then there are the bell peppers…
I’ve had overwhelming tomato failure for the last few years: squirrels, stink bugs, and another little buggy that I’m figuring out right now. Frustrating as these are the prize of the garden. Every year I tell myself no more tomato growing – buy at market and just get over it. But, I can’t seem to help myself.
Stink bugs! That was the one I couldn’t place! You sound like my husband. Every year he vows to plant only “one or two” tomato plants. Ha. This year we have 27…twenty seven…tomato plants.
Too bad we don’t live closer – I’d barter strawberry pie for tomatoes.
Oh wow…
I thought my tomato plants were the only ones in bad shape. I got them all planted from the greenhouse yesterday, but they look pretty bad compared to the ones at the garden centre. My only consolation is, I think they always look like this at the beginning. I need to take some pictures, like a makeover “before and after”.
I am not so optimistic about men, Christine, but maybe if I take a photo now, I’ll be pleasantly surprised later.
So glad your garden welcomed you home with abundance! And I’m with the other comments – this non-gooey strawberry pie idea is brilliant! Why ruin a perfectly good strawberry by gelatinizing it? Gonna try this! Wish we could have shared it with you.
It was so yummy and much more in line with what I like about strawberries. I so wish we could have given you some as well – something tells me USPS wouldn’t cut it. I’ll have to plan a different seasonal yum for the next tie we see each other.
but at least our garden grew!
That’s great looking blind crust! What a delicious thing to do w/ strawberries, ours are just starting to come on. We grow Honey-O.
*anna
Yum!!!
This sounds fabulous! I would have never thought of balsamic vinegar on strawberries. I have about a dozen strawberry plants and have yet to get more than a handful of ripe berries at a time.
They take a few years to get up some steam. I have some absurd number of them though as I tend to let them run amok up to a point.
That pie looks amazing! I’m going to try to make it next time I have some great strawberries and lots of ambition on hand.
That’s the lovely thing about it – no ambition required. If you need an easy pie crust – try the one at http://www.littlehouseinthesuburbs.com. Comes out great every time. Other than the shell it’s just slice slice, slice. And eat, eat, eat.
Thanks for the tips! I’m on it as soon as I get to the market for some berries.
Let me know what you think!
I just think it is cool that all this delicious pie filling could all come from a small seed!
Agreed! Gardens are miraculous!
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I love fresh strawberry pie and yours looks delicious! I’ve never heard of using balsamic vinegar on strawberries. I’ll have to check that out.
The balsamic is such a great counterpoint to the strawberries. Absolutely delish! Let us know if you give it a try!
You are so lucky! I can’t wait to go strawberry picking w/ my little guy but that won’t be until the end of May here in Indiana! Looks so yummy! Thanks for sharing at Church Supper. Have a blessed week & come back soon.
Thank you for hosting and for stopping by!
I absolutely LOVE strawberries with balsamic. I usually just eat the combination from a bowl with a fork, but putting it in a pie would be so good, too. Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure – they are so delightful with minimal interference, aren’t they? We needed a guest dessert, so I fancied it up a bit, but really a big bowl sounds delightful!
What a simple recipe! You can’t beat fresh strawberries. Thanks for sharing at this week’s Marvelous Mondays party!
Our pleasure Julie. I kind of want some more strawberry pie right now – 10 a.m. is a good time for pie, don’t you think?
This looks fantastic! What a great mix of flavors too!
Thanks Melissa! it was really delicious!
Your pie looks amazing. Thanks so much for sharing with this weeks Adorned From Above Blog Hop. We always love seeing what you bring to the party.
Have a great week.
Debi and Charly
Thanks and thanks so much for hosting every week!
The pie looks really good! I do not like the goo either!
It was scrumptious and we’ve got strawberries coming out of our ears right now. I just don’t get the goo. Glad to know it’s not just me.
So yummy and refreshing looking and I love the touch of balsamic vinegar!
Thanks! I am a strawberry freak and I find that the vinegar brings out what’s good in them rather than hiding it. Now I may have to make another.
Mmmmm, my mouth is watering! I know what I’m baking this weekend. I’d love if you’d come and share at Inspire Us Thursday http://organized31.blogspot.com/2013/06/inspire-us-thursday-link-party-2.html
Thanks for the invite! We’ll check it out!
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I just learned about strawberries and balsamic vinegar. You might be interested in the recipe I tried: http://www.simplelivingeating.com/2013/06/goat-cheese-strawberry-tartine-french.html
Thank you so much for sharing your pie with us on foodie friday.
My pleasure Diane. Thanks for sharing your tartine. Sounds divine!
What a yummy treat. Thanks for linking up to last weeks party. Can’t wait to see what you link up this week!! Nichi http://mandatorymooch.blogspot.com/2013/06/tasty-thursdays-45.html
Thank YOU for hosting and for stopping by Nichi.