Strawberry Cheesecake Pie and an Announcement!

Some pretty exciting things have been happening in my life and I wanted to share them with all of you! I don't really know who all of you might entail... but here goes. I will be spending next semester in Cajamarca, Peru! I am deferring Winter Semester here at BYU and will be working at a children's shelter and orphanage up in the Andes Mountains. I am going with an organization called Southern Cross and I am so excited. And even better news? One of my best friends in the whole world is coming with me! We arrive in Lima, Peru in January and we will work at "El Bichito" for 3 months.
To celebrate I made this pie. Ok, actually it was part of a bet. In return I am supposed to be getting homemade apple cider... I will tell you how that turns out.

*Disclaimer about the photos: These are from the first time I made this pie with a slightly different recipe. This recipe will fill the pie tin quite a bit more and the strawberries will mound a bit more, which I like better. 

Strawberry Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients:

·         3 eggs

·         3/4 cup sugar

·         1 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

·         11/2  package (12 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature

·         1 cup evaporated milk

·         1 1/2tablespoon lemon juice ( I think you could also add a dash of vanilla if you wanted)

·         12-inch graham cracker crust, baked

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs until thick and light yellow. Add  sugar and the flour, beating until blended. In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese with a small amount of the evaporated milk until smooth. Add remaining milk, the lemon juice, vanilla if you so desire ; beat until smooth and well blended. Pour egg mixture into the cream cheese mixture; beat just until blended.

Pour mixture into the graham cracker crust. Bake at 325° for 35 to 40 minutes. Until the tiniest cracks begin to appear on the edge. (I know cracking in cheesecakes is bad but it was the only way I could tell it was thoroughly cooked) Cool on a wire rack.

Strawberry Glaze

·         11/2 pints fresh strawberries, washed and hulled

·         1/2 cup water 

·         4 tablespoons sugar (plus a couple handfuls of powdered sugar)

·        2 teaspoons cornstarch

Cut up one pint of strawberries. I cut most of them in 1/2 and then a handful of them in half again so that they were thinner and could fit in between the cracks; arrange cut side down, over the cooled cheesecake. They should form a beautiful mounding creation of strawberry goodness. Crush enough remaining strawberries to make 1/3 cup; put in saucepan. Stir in 1/3 cup water and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Press through a strainer to make 1/2 cup of puree. Return the 1/2 cup puree to the saucepan. Mix together with 1/4 cup of water, the sugar and cornstarch and stir into the puree in saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. And here I have to make the confession that I have no idea if these proportions are correct because the original recipe didn't make enough so I kept adding handfuls of powdered sugar and dashes of lemon juice. Your end product should be a sweet lemon and strawberry flavored glaze that pours fairly easily over the entire pie. Cool slightly; spoon evenly over strawberries on cheesecake. Cool and store, covered, in refrigerator, at least an hour and probably more.