This weekend is about remembering the fallen who have served our country... and is filled with flags, cookouts, pool days and the unofficial kick off to the summer months. And it's the perfect time to make an in-season pie!

This is my mom's recipe and another family favorite. It's uses a traditional pastry dough that I love to use on all of my fruit pies. It makes enough dough for a two-crust 10-inch pie, so it's enough to make a pretty lattice top.

The strawberries and rhubarb become bubbly and syrupy when baked, oozing from the top of the crust. And the strawberries help bring a sweetness to the otherwise tart rhubarb pie. This pie is my kick off to the beautiful fruit season here in the midwest.

Bring this pie to your cookout, there is still time!...

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

1 Standard Pastry for 10-inch two-crust pie (recipe below)
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
2 1/2 cups fresh rhubarb, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 1/2 - 3 cups fresh strawberries, chopped
3 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Prepare the pastry dough (recipe beiow) and chill.
Stir together the sugar, flour and orange peel.
Toss the flour mixture with the chopped strawberries and rhubarb.
Roll out 1/2 the pastry dough and transfer into a 10-inch pie pan. Fill with the berry mixture. Dot the top with pieces of butter.
Cover the top of the pie with other half of the pie dough, rolled out thin - cut slits in the top of the crust so air/heat gets through while baking. Or, create strips and make a lattice top.
Sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the crust is golden-brown and juice begins to bubble on the top (that's normal - it will be juicy!). You can place foil on the top of the pie if it is browning too quickly. I reduce the heat to 400 after the first 20 minutes of baking.
Let the pie cool at room temperature, and the juices will set. It's best served 4 or more hours later. You can serve at room temperature, warmed or chilled - anything works!

Standard Pastry for 10-inch Pie

2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, cold and cut in cubes
7-8 tablespoons ice cold water

Directions:

Measure flour and salt in food processor. Add the cubes of butter and pulse. Slowly add in the cold water and pulse to come together. Add more water, 1 tbsp. at a time if it is too dry or crumbly. It should stick together when you pinch it. Keep pulsing until dough starts to come together. Then, pour onto a surface and form into 2 round discs. If not using a food processor, you can use a pastry cutter or a fork, and cut the butter into the flour and add water slowly as you cut through the dough. This takes longer but the dough will eventually come together!
Take 1 disc of dough and roll out onto a flour surface to about 2 inches larger than the inverted pie pan. Roll the pastry onto the rolling pin, and unroll over the pie pan and ease it into the pie.
Roll the remaining disc of dough out. You will either top the filled pit with it, or cut it into strips for a lattice top. Then. bake the pie according to directions above.