I prefer to be a homebody and would rather stay home than leave the house and run around. Unfortunately this has not been a stay-at-home kind of week.

Physical Therapy is still going on two days a week. I’m in less pain unless I move the wrong way too fast or too far. Many of my “normal” activities are returning to the way they were, but my range of motion and muscle strength still need work.

Monday and Wednesday were PT days plus Tuesday was a dentist follow-up visit, Thursday was Stitching Group and Friday was grocery shopping & renewal of an ID. I tried to do a few errands while we were out on each day.

In the Kitchen

This week included the birthday of a neighbor. After the dentist visit on Tuesday we made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up supplies to make her a Fluffy Frozen Strawberry Pie. I do normally bake from scratch but sometimes its nice to have a quicke recipe. This is a lovely, easy, no-cook recipe and my family likes it too, so, of course, I needed enough to make 2!

It’s a recipe I found on the Internet years ago and the hardest part is allowing it to sit in the freezer. I don’t remember where I found it and if I do, I’ll give credit. But a Google search uncovered quite a few variations.

Ingredients

• 4 oz Cream Cheese (softened)
• 1 (14 oz can) Sweetened Condensed Milk (Eagle Brand) not Evaporated Milk
• 2-½ c Fresh or Frozen Strawberries
• 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 cup Frozen Whipped Topping like Cool Whip
• 1 Large Graham Cracker Pie Shell
  (9” Keebler ‘2 Extra Servings Size‘works nicely or a standard 10″ shell)

This recipe lends itself to being flexible with the ingredients. I may use a bit more Strawberries. I usually use 1/2 carton of frozen whipped topping (Cool Whip) but may use more if I want to finish a tub. The original recipe calls for 3 ounces of cream cheese but making two I used an 8 ounce bar & just cut it in half. I’ve even made it without the pie shell and just put it in a glass rectangle casserole and served it in squares or you can dip it like ice cream.

Instructions

• Combine the first 4 ingredients in a Food Processor or combine well with a mixer
• Fold in Frozen Whipped Topping (Cool Whip) into the  mixture
• Pour into prepared Graham Cracker Crust
• Freeze 4 hours or until firm (Soft Serve after 4 hours, Hard Frozen overnight (If frozen hard, remove from freezer 15 minutes before cutting)
• Garnish with sliced Strawberries, if desired

Making of a Fluffy Frozen Strawberry Pie

Step 1
I add cut Strawberries and Lemon Juice to my Bullet Blender and process. This is the perfect size for about 2+ cups of cut up strawberries.

Step 2
I add the softened cream cheese which I cut into slices and process until mixed well.

Step 3
I pour the Strawberry Cream Cheese mixture to a bowl and add the can of Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated milk) and combine.

Step 4
I add about 1/2 tub of Frozen Whipped Topping (Cool Whip) and carefully fold it into the Strawberry mixture until fully incorporated

Step 5
Then I pour the mixture into  the Graham Cracker Crust, smoothing it evenly. I used a 10″ pie shell. If you use a regular 9″ pie shell you will have extra filling left over.

Step 6
Decorate with sliced Strawberries and today I added some canned whipped cream (Reddi-Wip)

Finally I covered the pie and put it into the freezer. The store bought Graham Cracker Crust has a clear plastic cover. I remove the paper label and invert it over the pie for a cover.
After 4 hours it is Soft Set.
Eight hours or Overnight the pie is very Firm (let set out about 15 minutes for easier cutting)

Variations– if you want you could make your own Graham Cracker Crust with crushed Graham Crackers, Sugar & Melted Butter. Some may want to add a spoonful or two of sugar to the Strawberries but I’ve found they are usually sweet enough. I’ve seen recipes that use whipped heavy cream instead of the frozen whipped topping (Cool Whip). If you like chunks, you could include bits of finely chopped strawberries when folding in the Frozen Whipped Topping (Cool Whip).

For a PDF copy of this recipe, Click Here.

School Supplies

I know it’s only July but many stores have begun their school supply sales. Our local schools will start August 25th, but our grandsons’ first day of school is August 7th. (Their last day of school was in May but our local schools went until the middle of June.)

Did you know that many school supplies are also quilting supplies? Some that I’ll probably stock up will include washable glue & glue sticks, graph paper, colored pencils/markers, notebooks, pocket folders, sheet protectors, 3 ring notebooks and plastic pencil cases. Are there any other school supplies you use?

Sewing

Yes, I did get some sewing room time but not as much as I would have liked. But that’s life!

I laid out the Fabric Cafe blocks on a design wall and then played “Quilt Solitaire” re-arranging blocks to find a pleasant layout. Then I took a picture in Black and White to check on color values to eavenly spread out the light vs dark.  Then I got the blockes stitched into rows and the rows all assembled. This weekend I’ll finish the Fabric Cafe top.

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Hope you are making progress on whatever you are stitching this week!

Happy Stitching!

Quilt Mouse