For today's lesson I will simply state that roses, apples, and strawberries belong to the same family. You probably learned in high school that plants are grouped into families; families are divided into genera; and genera are divided into species. There are some 800,000 species of insects, perhaps 200,000 species of hard-cased seed plants, and about 3,600 species of mammals.
I've never been able to decide whether strawberries or raspberries are my favorite fruit. As I write this, strawberries come first. I can eat 'em morning, noon, and night, and enjoy a cereal dishfull for a bedtime snack along with a handful of sugar cookies and a glass of cold, creamy milk.
Ordinarily, I'm not a chiffon pie man. No sense in an airy, fluffy chiffon pie if you can have a mouthful of genuine fruit. But this pie, from the Woodbine Cottage in Sunapee, N.H., is different. Eleanor and Bob Hill have worked out some top recipes. On a hot day this pie, tangy and cold from the refrigerator, is a salubrious way to conclude a meal. It's a nine-inch pie.
Puree one-and-a-half cups of hulled strawberries and three-fourths a cup of sugar. Let this stand for 30 minutes.
Soak four teaspoons gelatin in one-fourth cup cold water. Dissolve this in two cups hot water; add one tablespoon lemon juice. Add this mixture to the puree of strawberries.
Chill in refrigerator until almost set. Whip with wire whisk until stiff. Fold in three stiffly beaten egg whites and one drop of red coloring. Pour into a baked pie shell. Chill before serving and top with whipped cream.
If you are chiffon pie booster, this will please you, and if you are a skeptic, please be open-minded enough to do yourself the favor of trying it. Most of us live by prejudice and emotion, but occasionally just for the unusual experience, we ought to be logical and objective.
