Recently I saw a photograph on Facebook of lettuce at Cole’s Farm in Madison. Perhaps it was Mr. Cole himself, holding a head of what may have been butter lettuce, my favorite. The head was as big as a basketball, and it said that lettuce is almost done.

I hope it isn’t, since I will be at Stone Acres in Stonington for my Community Supported Agriculture produce this week. I made a quart of dressing and I have enough granola and toasted coconut flakes for salad for the next couple weeks. Maybe the cucumbers are locally available, too. I am so excited.

What are available right now are fresh strawberries. My paring knives are ready to core the berries. They will be in my salads every day until it is blueberry and raspberry time. I will use cut strawberries, drop them into a big bowl, add a few tablespoons of sugar and toss them together. If I leave them on the counter for a couple of hours, they will juice right up and I will pack them in quart-sized plastic bags and freeze them for the winter. I will also eat fresh strawberries for dessert, too. I am salivating as I write this.

The only person who craves strawberries more than I do is my friend, Nancy. She works full time, and spends at least another 20 or 30 hours trapping feral cats, getting them healthy and spayed or neutered. She will send many back in their cat colonies, where they won’t make any kittens.

The lady cats who are already pregnant will stay with her until the kittens are weaned. She finds homes for the kittens but some of the mom cats stay with her until she finds someone like me to take one home.

She doesn’t have time for cooking, but I will make her this strawberry pie. Hopefully, she will give me a strawberry margarita. No one makes a better one.

Strawberry Cream Pie

From “Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts” by the Moosewood Collective, Clarkson N. Potter, New York, 1997

Serves 8

10-inch prebaked pie shell (I use Oronoque frozen pie shells if I don’t make my own)

4 cups sliced or quartered fresh strawberries (about 2 pints)

1/4 cup sugar, to taste

1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

For the custard:

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups whole milk

3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

fresh whipped cream

Combine strawberries and sugar in a saucepan and place on medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring gently. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch into the simmering strawberries. Cook just until thickened and translucent, and set aside.

For the custard: Combine cornstarch, sugar and salt into a heavy saucepan. Gradually add a little milk to make a paste and then whisk in the rest of the milk and the egg yolks until smooth.

Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lower the heat, if necessary, to prevent the custard from sticking or becoming lumpy.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Stir the cooked strawberries into the custard and pour the mixture into the prebaked pie shell. Refrigerate for about 2 hours, until thoroughly chilled. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

On the Side: homemade vanilla extract

Over the past six months, I have been peering at the outside of a quart-sized blue Mason jar. The jar has 20 fresh vanilla beans in it, and the jar is filled with vodka. As much as I wanted to open it up and smell it, I have not.

But two weeks ago, I did. It smells like pure vanilla extract. I am not much of a drinker, but when I poured the vodka into the jar, in January, it smelled like vodka. Now, that liquid smells like vanilla. It is not as brown as a bottle of McCormick pure vanilla extract, but the aroma is gorgeous.

I whipped some heavy cream and added a half teaspoon of sugar and a same amount of the from-scratch vanilla. It was heavenly. I will never have to buy store-bought vanilla again. Periodically I might add a few more beans and some vodka. But I told my daughter that I added the vanilla to my will. Don't throw away that blue Mason jar, Darcy!

Lee White lives in Groton. She can be reached at leeawhite@aol.com.