Thanksgiving and my Mama’s Sweet Potato Pie

(In the photo, you’ll see my most precious possessions, which incidentally were my mom’s as well ~ the cookbook daddy gave her as a gift when they first married in 1954 and the wedding band she wore without taking it off for almost fifty-six years.)

So here I am, the second Thanksgiving without mama. They say the first holiday is the hardest. Well, let me say from my own experience, the second time around without her is no easier. Even so, at least I can function better, and I can bring myself to cook Thanksgiving dinner. I will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year in my mama’s kitchen, standing in the same exact spot she did, using her cookware, making her recipe for dressing and gravy, my recipe for steamed whole green beans, potatoes, salad, rolls and my Mama’s famous Sweet Potato Pie.

I’m actually making her pie in my kitchen and taking it to my dad’s house this afternoon. I am spending the night at dad’s so I can get up bright and early tomorrow morning and get to work. I will be spending my first night away from Paul and Stephen since the summer of 2003 when I took a short road trip with my parents. ... I wonder if they’ll have a stag party in my absence? Everyone reading this, please cook spaghetti for them till they’re sick of it. (That statement makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to you unless you’re a big Andy Griffith Show fan.)

So I digress, we all know that’s what I do best.

Sweet Potato Pie

3 medium sweet potatoes, baked

¼ cup butter, melted

2 eggs, separated

½ cup honey

¼ t salt

¼ t nutmeg

1 t baking powder

½ cup milk

1 t grated orange rind

1 t brandy (mom used vanilla)

Unbaked pie shell. (I use store bought)

Wash and bake baked potatoes until they are soft. Remove skins, and mash them with a fork (unless you have a ricer, which I don’t) to remove all the lumps. Cool slightly. Add melted butter, egg yolks, honey, salt, nutmeg and baking powder, and beat until smooth and creamy; then stir in milk, orange rind and vanilla. Pour into the unbaked pie shell. Bake in a hot oven (450°) for 15 minutes or until edge of crust is lightly browned. Then reduce heat to 300° (slow) and bake 25-30 minutes longer. Remove pie from oven and spread with meringue made by beating the 2 egg whites until stiff, then beating in 3 tablespoons of sugar. Return to oven for 20 minutes to brown meringue. Cool on cake rack before cutting. 5 to 6 servings.

NOTE: I can't remember mama using honey in her recipe. Like me, she probably played with the ingredients. I'm going to use dark brown sugar in stead. I'll update later to let you know how that goes.

My Grandma's Baked Apples

Stephen loves helping me in the kitchen and since he is not attending school right now (I’ll talk about that another time), I’ve been trying to come up with things I am sure he can assist with in the kitchen. We’re having fun with our cooking projects, and I want to keep a journal of them -- if I can discipline myself in keeping my camera handy and making notes. In time, I’d like to print our recipes and stories and make a keepsake book for Stephen, which is one reason I created this new food and recipe journal. How I wish I had recorded photos and notes from my childhood when I helped my mama and grandmothers in the kitchen.

Last Friday, Stephen and I baked apples! It was like taking a step back in time for me. I recall being as young as four years old when I helped my grandmother with this very recipe. Grandma baked apples at least once a week. Her little house, which was (and still is) located on main street in our town would smell so wonderful when she baked apples. The fragrance of apples and cinnamon was most distinctive in the fall of the year -- I believe it was because of the crisp chill in the air, and it just made you feel all warm and happy inside to step onto grandma‘s porch and breathe in the aroma.

Now on to the recipe -

You'll need the following ingredients:




* A baking pan, large enough to hold the apples. I like them to fit snuggly in the pan so they won‘t tip over.
* An apple corer is nice, but not necessary
* 6 - apples, washed
* 1/3 cup - brown sugar
* 1 - teaspoon cinnamon
* 1- teaspoon vanilla (optional)
* 1/3 cup- raisins
* 1/3 cup- coarsely chopped pecans
* 2-3 tablespoons - butter
* boiling water - enough to cover bottom of dish

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 or 375 degrees, depending on your oven.
Core the apples and use a spoon or paring knife to scoop out the remaining seeds. If you use an apple corer, I find this doesn’t make the hole in the apple big enough to hold the ingredients, so I make it slightly bigger in diameter with a paring knife.

* Mix the next five ingredients together in a small bowl.
* Spoon the mixture into each apple.
* Top each apple with a pat of butter.
* Add boiling water to bottom of pan.
* Bake until the apples look all shriveled and a knife easily pierces through them - about 45 minutes.
* Spoon the sweet, buttery pan drippings all over the apples before serving.



These are also good topped with vanilla ice cream, but we usually just eat them plain.