OK. We have a cooled down pie shell crust. (If you did not read Part I, go back and do that first.)

Now we make the pie filling, put a lattice crust on top of it, and bake it until the house smells like you are on a tour at the Lorna Doone factory.

INGREDIENTS:
-Reserved pie dough that you saved in the fridge
-2 cups strawberries
-2 cups cut-up rhubarb
1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 1/2 tablespoons tapioca
Milk for brushing
Egg white for brushing
Cinnamon (powdered)
Small patties of butter - about 2 tablespoons worth


INSTRUCTIONS:


1. In a large mixing bowl, dump two cups of strawberries and two cups of rhubarb. The strawberries work best if they are small and not cut in half. The cutting will make juice, and you don't want a pie soup. Remove stems and wash before using. The rhubarb work best if it is red and if it is cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces.


2. Add 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of flour. Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of dry quick-cooking vanilla or plain tapioca.

3. Stir up this mess making sure that all the fruit gets powdered well with the white mixture. There will be lots of white mixture left on the bottom of the bowl, and you will use it in the filling.


4. Pour the fruit mix into the pre-baked and cooled pie shell. Be careful that you don't crack or break the shell. Arrange the fruit as evenly as you can. Pour the remaining white mix into the cracks and voids in the fruit.

5. Get the remaining dough and repeat the rolling process from PART I. (you did save some unbaked pie dough! We had you put it in a plastic wrap in the refrigerator!) This will be your lattice crust!


6. Roll it out to about 1/8 to 3/16 inch thick and cut it into long strips. The width of the strips is up to you but I use about 1 1/4 inches wide strips.


7. Put the dough strips in alternating directions onto the top of the pie. Lightly squeezing the edges of the strips into the edge of the pie shell crust. Do this until you have a good-looking lattice top. Brush the lattice with egg white and I also brush the edges of the shell crust - around the circumference of the pie plate - with milk. This will add brown color. I also dust the lattice crust with a little powdered cinnamon. You can also dust with nutmeg - an essential in apple pies!


8. Cut about 8 very small patties of butter and drop them into the holes of fruit between the lattices.

9. Preheat oven to 450F. Bake the pie in the middle of the oven at 450 for ten minutes. Then reduce heat to 350F and bake for 40-45 minutes.


10. Remove pie from oven using mitts or hot pads and place on a cooling rack that allows air to pass all over the pie, especially under the plate.

11. Some people like warm pie. This pie is a juice monster and needs to be chilled. Allow it to cool until you can pick it up without pads. Then put it in a pie safe, cake saver or lightly wrap it in clear plastic and put it in the refrigerator for cooling. I always cool mine overnight before I eat any of it. This is a natural pie for the a la mode lover! It is great with French vanilla!

Bon appetit!