Summer Strawberry Pie

I found this recipe this morning...about 4:30 am to be exact (I couldn't sleep so I decided to do some recipe surfing online).  As soon as I  saw this one I knew I had to make it!  I found it at www.mommyskitchen.net.  Anyways, I did change it slightly.  I did not add strawberry extract to my sauce like she did (basically because I didn't have any, and didn't want to spend the 3-4 dollars for a dash of something I may never use again).  It turned out amazing without it.  So...if you have strawberry extract, add a dash to your sauce when you are cooking it.  If you don't have any, don't worry (come on people, my recipes are the kinds that you can almost always add something or leave something out!).  This is awesome for summer because it is a cold pie.  So pretty too!!!

Ingredients:
1 Deep dish frozen pie crust
1 Cup white sugar
1/4 Cup corn starch
1 Box strawberry jello (8 1/2 cup servings...the bigger sized box)
1 1/2 Cups water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
(1/2 tsp strawberry extract if you want)
3 Cups strawberries, cut and cleaned

Directions:
*Turn your oven on to 350*F.  Remove your pie crust from the freezer.  Using parchment paper or foil, draw then cut a circle the size of the inside bottom of the pie crust.  You want the inside bottom to be covered so it doesn't burn while cooking.  I traced my pie with an orange crayon then cut it out.  I used parchment paper.

*Once you have cut it out, put it inside your pie crust and put pie weights (I don't have these so I used dried peas/beans instead).

*Put the pie with the weights/beans into your oven and bake for 15-20 minutes (until it lightly browns).

*Take the pie crust out of the oven, remove the beans/weights and parchment paper.  Let cool on a wire rack.

*While the pie is cooking (or cooling), mix the water, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and jello together.   Cook over medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken (it thickens pretty quickly after it starts to boil).  Make sure to stir it often (if not constantly).

*Remove from heat once it thickens and let cool for about 45 minutes (you don't want to put it hot over your pie).

*While your sauce is cooling, arrange your strawberries in your pie.  I flipped most of them on the top so that the cut part of the berries didn't show (it made it look prettier).

*Once the filling has cooled, pour it over all of the berries in the pie making sure to coat them all.

*Put pie in your fridge for at least 2 hours to set.  You can keep the pie in the fridge for up to 3 days.  :)