Oh, the Places We'll Go: Mrs. Ruth's Fresh Strawberry Dessert

The weather is beginning to turn very fall-ish where I live! I love fall-- but I love summer too. When I felt the need to put on a jacket the other day while walking the dogs I panicked a little. I have so many summery recipes and so little time left to share them with you this year! I decided to pick one of my favorite summer recipes to share with you before we move on to pumpkin, apple, cinnamon, pecan, brown sugar, and everything else fall. So, here is a recipe to celebrate the end of summer: Fresh Strawberry Dessert.

I want to tell you how I came to possess this little nugget of a recipe. There is a lady in my church-- Mrs. Ruth-- THAT CAN COOK! Woo-oo-ee can that woman cook! I am jealous of her skills. She makes this Fresh Strawberry Dessert quite often for church potlucks and such, and every time she brings it there is never any left for her to take home. That pan gets cleaned out! Seriously, people go to the dessert table before the food table to make sure they get a piece of this dessert! It is that good! Well anyways, I was cooking dinner one night for my in-laws (well, then they were technically my "boyfriend's parents") and I really wanted to impress them-- and I knew just the dessert to do it with! I called Mrs. Ruth up and asked if she would give me her recipe. That sweet lady read out all the ingredients and measurement to me over the phone, throwing in a few tips here and there on how she does it. When I hung up the phone I cOUld Not BeLIEve that I--me!-- now had the secret to one of the best desserts on earth! I don't remember what I made for the main course that night, but I certainly remember the rave reviews I got for the dessert! Thanks Mrs. Ruth! (By the way Mrs. Ruth, if you are reading this my daddy told me you made the best chicken and dumplings, macaroni and cheese, and --none other-- than this Fresh Strawberry Dessert for church last Sunday. Wish I could have been there 'cuz nobody makes it like you! Love you!)

Let's get started with this recipe, shall we?

For the full recipe with measurements click here: Fresh Strawberry Dessert*

*I halved the recipe because I was only feeding a small crowd, so you see I'm using a smaller dish than the recipe says to. Also, if you try to click this link today it may not work. I submitted the recipe on TastyKitchen.com this morning, but there is a review process it has to go through before it is posted publicly. So, if you got a "oops! page not found" message try again tomorrow. Thanks y'all!

For the CRUST you need to:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Start by melting the butter. To save on dirty dishes, I put the cold butter in the pan I am going to use and throw it in the oven while it is preheating.

Dump in self-rising flour and chopped pecans.

Using a fork mix all three ingredients together until well combined.

Then using your fingers or the back of a spoon, press the crumbly mixture into the bottom of the dish. Bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

To make the glaze for the TOPPING:

In a medium saucepan combine 7UP, water, sugar, salt, and cornstarch.**

**I have to tell you that this deviates from Mrs. Ruth's original recipe. Mrs. Ruth uses the strawberry glaze you can buy pre-made in the grocery store. I decided to make my own because... Remember how I was telling you that I made this for my in-laws? Well, Adam's dad is allergic to a food preservative called Sodium Benzoate, and what do you know?! It was in the pre-made strawberry glaze. When I read the label and saw that it had it in it I had a major freak-out in the middle of the grocery store. I thought my impressive dessert was over--not happening-- the end. Thank the Lord for smart phones because I googled strawberry glaze and a recipe for it popped up. Whew! My iPhone saved the day. But having said all that, if you don't want to take the time to make your own glaze the pre-made glaze goes perfectly here**

Continuing the recipe...