Zita's Red Raspberry Pie

This past Christmas, my sisters-in-law found a bunch of handwritten family recipes, scanned them, and shared them with the rest of us. Most of them are desserts that my husband cherishes from his childhood - his grandma's chocolate cookies with white frosting were the first item we recreated. For Father's Day this year, I made him his great-grandmother Zita's red raspberry pie. Since this does not require the use of the oven at all, it could be a perfect addition to any Fourth of July spread.

Full disclosure: you're supposed to serve it with whipped cream. I attempted to make whipped cream from scratch and it just wouldn't inflate. Next time!

Since history is fun, here's the actual recipe:

Here's how, with J's help, I translated that:

2 cups raspberries (I went with three cartons of fresh)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Pre-baked pie crust (make from scratch or go with a grocery store cop out, like I did)

Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup water. Once dissolved, add everything else into the pan.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Remove from the stove and let it cool, then gently pour into your pie crust (I chose graham cracker).

Even with a 1/2 cup of sugar, this pie has a strong footing on the tangy end of the spectrum. And it's HOT PINK. And you get pie without having to turn on your oven in the middle of an 85 degree 90% humidity summer day! As always, I'm convinced I will screw up pie dough made from scratch so I wussed out with store bought, but someday I'll get there. Today is not that day. However, the pie is delicious, my husband's face lit up with childhood memories bite after bite after bite, and, you know, it's hot pink. I love pretty food.