Pie Maker, I'm NOT!

For those of you who are time crunched, I'll start by sharing a recipe for Peach (or Strawberry) Pie. You'll need the following ingredients: 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup boiling water, a 3 oz package of peach or strawberry jello, 2 cups of sliced fresh fruit, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, lemon juice (to sprinkle over peaches so they don't brown) and a 9 inch pie shell, baked and cooled according to the package instructions.

Directions: Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add boiling water. Cook over medium heat. Add gelatin and mix well. Cool until lukewarm. Slice fruit. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Add to gelatin mixture and pour into pie shell. Refrigerate for several hours or until set. Garnish with cool whip if desired.

Now, the reason why I'm not a pie maker. I guess I should have realized that since my mom didn't like pie and therefore didn't make them, that there may be a genetic issue here...I'll have to ask her sometime. I had a great neighbor who tried to teach me all things domestic...I didn't do so well in the pie making department then either. There was an Easter dinner, parents, in-laws, sister etc. for dinner...big dinner, had to do everything myself (I'm also NOT Martha Stewart, but that didn't keep my from trying). I carefully planned the use of my oven, but as I pulled out the peach pie, I clipped the edge of the oven sending the entire peach pie to the bottom of the oven and no, the meat wasn't yet finished. Just imagine lots of smoke, the smoke detector wailing and a very frustrated homemaker!

Anyway, I've sworn off baked pies unless they come in a box, if you know what I mean. I was given this recipe and with so few ingredients and the bonus of using fresh fruit I figure what could be so difficult. Well if there is a way to mess it up, I've tried it. I had added the wrong ingredients at the wrong time. I've had the jello not gel...just ask Pastor Steve and Sherri about their "dessert" (term used loosely in this situation) when I took a meal when Nic was born. Today I decided to boil the water in the saucepan, then add the sugar and cornstarch, but ended up with clumps of goo...Caleb had a name for it. I suppose it'd be cool to play with if that was the end game. So after throwing that mess out (thankfully sugar and cornstarch aren't that expensive) I started again. It's now cooling in the refrig so I'll have to let you know if it turned out. I decided there is a reason I don't homeschool...imagine what would happen with science experiments in my kitchen!! My hats go off to all our homeschooling moms out there. Me, I'm a science project gone bad!

I did have one time the pie came out beautifully...I was talking to Melissa on the phone, so my advice, call Melissa so say hello when you try this recipe. This pie did turn out, Rich even asked me what I did to prevent it from flopping. Maybe it was sharing the recipe with you! Oh, and feel free to share your experiences with this recipe if you'd like!