Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Recently Kent and Ben took a father-son trip to the lake to visit my in-laws. I stayed home to work...and then r-e-l-a-x. I love my boys, but it was so nice to have a moment to myself again. When the door closed after they left, I barely knew what to do with myself.

And then I knew exactly what to do. I reverted back to Beth Before Baby.

I watched a movie while eating macaroni and cheese with No. Inter. Ruptions.

I stayed up until 1 am reading.

I slept in until 10 am.

I leisurely walked through Target, purchasing whatever perked my interest. (Coconut marshmallows?! Yes please!)

I went rollerblading along the river bike path.

And yes, I made pie.

I used to always make pies. I like making pies. It's like meditation, all these simple steps and ingredients coming together into something majestic. My pies aren't pretty - I'm lazy with the crust edges - but they're usually edible. Usually. And this one was very, yummily edible.

I make up words. It's what I do.

I've made strawberry rhubarb pie before with flour as a filling thickener, but I had to try Smitten Kitchen's recipe. Raise your hand if you adore Smitten Kitchen! She uses A LOT of tapioca in her recipe, which gels the juice so you don't get that puddle effect on the bottom of the pie plate. Everything sticks together, neat and tidy in classic SK style.

Needless to say, after a few hours on the road, nothing says "Welcome Home" to my boys like a fresh strawberry rhubarb pie sitting on the counter (and a wife/mother who is delighted to see them return).

Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
I made some changes, but feel free to click here for the original recipe.

1 recipe double-crust pie dough of your choice
3 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds, untrimmed) rhubarb, in 1/2-inch thick slices
3 1/2 cups (about 1 pound) strawberries, hulled and sliced if big, halved if tiny
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a well-floured counter, roll half of pie dough into a 12-inch circle and carefully transfer to a 9-inch pie plate.

Stir together rhubarb, strawberries, sugars, lemon, salt and tapioca in a large bowl. Mound filling inside bottom pie crust. Roll second half of pie dough into an 11-inch circle. Transfer it to center over the pie filling. Trim top and bottom pie dough so that their overhang beyond the pie plate lip is only 1/2-inch. Tuck rim of dough underneath itself and crimp it decoratively. Cut slits in top.

Transfer pie to a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until the pie is golden and the juices bubble visibly.

Transfer pie to wire rack to cool. When fully cool (several hours later) the juices gel.