Let's talk about pies. Vintage pies, that is.

[jmcarthur8]

While winding up a thread about RV cake, Ruthie and I segued off into a discussion of raisin pie, an old time one that her mom used to make.
It got me thinking about some of the old traditional or country pies that we don't see much these days.
One I have had a few times this year was a shoofly pie at an old Amish restaurant in Blackville SC. Sweet, sweet, sweet! And so delicious you'll just want to slap yo' mama! (as my pals here in Georgia say)

What old timers have you made, or do you want to make?

[rmarisco]

i made a green tomato pie once, from a shaker cookbook. had apples and raisins - tasted like mincemeat.

didn't bother to notice that my entire family hates mincemeat. Only made it once!

BTW if anyone likes to read along with your baking, I highly recommend a book called Sweety Pies by Patty Pinner. Every person she knows has pie history! Wonderful book and the best pie crust I have ever made.

[Ruthie789]

I picked up an old cook book by the Moffat appliance company, Moffat Cook Book, circa 1950 ish. A pie recipe is called Vintage Pie using concord grapes, put into a pie crust.
3 cups Concord grapes, 1/4 cup water, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 teaspoons grated orange rind, 1 1/2 tablespoon granulated tapioca. Preheat oven to 450. Cook pulp and water until seeds loosen, press through a coarse sieve to remove seeds. Mix pulp, skins, and other ingredients let stand 5 minutes. Add to uncooked pie pastry, top crust or criss-cross. Ten minutes at 450/350 20-25 minutes. Cool and serve with whipped or Devonshire cream.

[buttertart]

I had forgotten there WAS a Moffat appliance company :). The first Canadian Living baking book (from the 80s) has a similar recipe.

[coll]

Just took an Italian Grain Pie (Pizza di Grano) out of the oven, I make it once a year for Easter. Does that count? I think I'm the youngest person in the world that makes them (and I'm no spring chicken!)

[Ruthie789]

Here`s an old one, Huckleberry Pie. Link provided below:
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes...

[buttertart]

You'd be hard put to find huckleberries these days, eh?

[Ruthie789]

I would think so, I have never seen them in the markets.

[Ruthie789]

I know this may be slightly off topic but I just saw a video of how to make pie crust and the cook lined the pie with aluminum and used pennies as pie weights. (I assume they had been cleaned and sterilized.) She claims the copper is a good conducter of heat and makes for great weights. In Canada the penny is no longer in circulation so I guess I could use the pennies as weights. Who would of thought of this?

[sandylc]

My first thought here was that those pennies must get awfully hot! Better use 2-3 layers or even heavyweight foil so that when you have to hurriedly remove the weights and get the crust back into the oven, the pennies don't rip the foil and burn you!

[Kholvaitar]

The "Tang Pie' is probably vintage by now--

http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-card...

[Ruthie789]

We were fed Tang every morning and loved it, don't know if I would make a pie from it.

[buttertart]

I loved it too and used to sneak spoonfuls from the jar when my mother wasn't looking :)

[sunshine842]

one of my grandmothers was a Tang addict -- later in life, she started making it as a glass of Tang with enough water to make it liquid. Still makes my teeth hurt to think about it.

[Ruthie789]

Oh that`s a sweet affliction on the sly!

[sunshine842]

we loved staying at her house, but even as kids, we kept trying to find ways to dilute it back enough to be drinkable.

It's bad when two kids who loved pixy stix won't drink the Tang because it's too sweet.

[Ruthie789]

As kids it was on our breakfast table as orange juice, alongside the slabs of fried bacon, fried eggs, and pancakes and corn syrup. The cereal of choice Capt`n crunch.. We were bouncing off the walls.

[buttertart]

Ah the good old days :) Seems to me my mom used it mostly at our cottage in port Franks, ON. We drank Old South frozen at home, mostly.

[Ruthie789]

The good old days, my Mom was a master piemaker, and I wish I could whip up a pie in no time flat like she did. Her best-lemon meringue pie.

[buttertart]

My mom could beat your mom ;-)

[LJS]

I spent part of my youth in this area of the country (clearly Tang-land) and the rest in Newfoundland. I am enjoying this trip down memory lane...my mom, however, was so NOT a cook. Strictly food-as-fuel and Tang was fuel. She got the notion one year that we should have eggs for breakfast, but not really knowing much about cooking and having less inclination to learn, she simply broke a raw egg into the Tang, whipped it with her manual egg-beater (they were handy, eh?) and passed out these big glasses of bright orange liquid laced with gluey, eggy bits.

To this day, the thought of Tang makes me feel queasy...

[sunshine842]

That. is. nasty.

And this from someone who would have sold her soul for an Orange Julius.

[LJS]

Yep, nasty is the word for it...but that was My Mom...elegant, witty, a great reader, fantastic bridge player, brilliant at mothering and, later, grandmothering..but born without taste buds herself, she simply didn't "get" food...5'6" and weighed 114 all her life...sigh...

[buttertart]

There are those...

[Ruthie789]

Food is love Buttertart!

[buttertart]

That it is!

[Ruthie789]

I was reading Heirloom cooking by The Brass Sisters, in it a pineapple pie using crushed pineapple and baked. Sounds goods pie in the works.

[TrishUntrapped]

I have a recipe for pineapple pie that uses crushed pineapple. Very very simple and I love it.

[LJS]

Grape Pie is my notion of old-fashioned...but it has glamour appeal for a dinner party, too. I make it with a touch of cheddar in the crust and drop of wine added to intensify the filling...never fails to win over those who intially think they won't like it.

[buttertart]

My mom (who died in 1994) started talking about a new development in Ontario pies a few years before that -- the bumbleberry pie. (Not that 1990 seems all that vintage to me, but what the hey). Whatever berries you have plus apple, I think. I have to say that I completely and utterly hate the cutesy name, so much so that I've never made one.

[prima]

Bumbleberry is still quite popular at bakeries in ON and other parts of Canada. Usually includes 3 or 4 types of berries. Looks like the Canadian Living and Good Housekeeping recipes call for apple, but the King Arthur recipe doesn't. Even though most online recipes seem to include apple, I hadn't noticed the apple element in the bakery and restaurant versions I've tried.

Here's the Anna Olson apple-free galette version: http://edibletoronto.com/summer-2009/...

[coll]

There is a commercial pie that sounds similar to this, but they call it Fruits of the Forest. That name is far worse than Bumbleberry, I'll venture to say.

[sunshine842]

sort of -- in French, a mixture of blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and sometimes red and/or black currents is called Fruit de la Fôret, Fruits des Bois, or just Fruits Rouges.

Fruits of the Forest is the literal translation of the first two -- so it's sometimes just an attempt to be Frenchified, rather than just nauseatingly cute (which is where I'd classify Bumbleberry).

[coll]

I had another scenario in mind, very politically incorrect! Thanks for the info, from now on I will imagine eating a berry pie in a Paris cafe, with a cafe au lait.

[HillJ]

In the (literally) pie town of Julian, San Diego the Fruits of the Forest pie bakers add apples, pears and peaches to blueberry, raspberry and blackberries. Call it what you will...it's freakin delicious! :)

[coll]

That's more like the one I was thinking of, it has berries but also apples and rhubarb I think?

[Chowrin]

coll,
for shame! A good british name, and you're insulting it!
Forest, in Britain, meant anything that wasn't held by someone.

So you're basically saying you went out and got free fruit for a pie

[sunshine842]

but in many places, it also means fruits that grow in a forest...like berries....

[coll]

That's cool to know, although we don't have any unowned forests in these here parts. I would love to get into foraging someday though.

[jen kalb]

this seems derivative of traditional Scottish english pies which similarly offer apple with berries added in presumably whichever came to hand or were in season at the time.

[HillJ]

Mincemeat (not meat) pies were on sale at Stop & Shop today.
Come back?

[coll]

The wholesale bake-off mincemeat pies usually go on deep discount after Thanksgiving from suppliers, because the suppliers stock them for the holiday and then nobody buys them. Every year, they never learn. Not that there's anything wrong with them, Stop and Shop probably got a great deal and figured what the heck. Maybe they will start a trend, who knows?

When I worked upstate NY they did move some, but not here on Long Island, no way.
We always got a voice mail the day after Thanksgiving, you could count on it: if you can find anyone that will take all 10 cases we brought in (and didn't sell even one) you can sell it below cost. There was another one like that too, strawberry rhubarb? Or maybe sweet pototo? We here all drool over these, but it's a hard sell. Get 'em while you can is my advice; I would probably buy one just to try, they never even offered that flavor at our annual pie strategy meeting. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've EVER tasted mincemeat pie in my life.

[Ruthie789]

Challenge-try it slightly warm with a dollop of cream!

[coll]

Oh I'm pretty sure I'll like it, whether dried fruit or actual meat...I'm one of those people that love fruitcake too! Wonder if MY Stop and Shop has them too?

[Ruthie789]

I just made one and it will rest overnight. Tomorrow we will be eating that pie with a dollop of cream.

[Ruthie789]

JM, I found a great video on fruit pies by Anna Olson. She makes a lovely mincemeat pie and so thought it might be of interest to this thread. The video has a few commercials but once you get to the topic pies, it is a great video. You need to scroll down to the feature called fruit pies.

http://www.foodnetwork.ca/ontv/shows/...

[jmcarthur8]

Ruthie, I am trying to figure out how to open the file...seems to be a different media player than I have as a plug-in.

[Ruthie789]

1-You need to go further down below the video player to view the videos available and select the one on fruit pies.
2-You might try going to FoodNetwork.ca and look up Anna Olsen and view videos available for her show Baking with Anna Olsen. She has a video called fruit pie and it has three amazing pie recipes, Blue Ribbon Apple Pie, Mincemeat Pie, Blueberry pie and individual hand pies. She also has another video on pies, flourless pies.

[jmcarthur8]

Oops. Finally got a message on the screen that said these videos aren't available in the US.
Thanks for trying!

[Ruthie789]

Is she available on regular Foodnetwork.com?

[PotatoHouse]

I made a Shoo Fly Pie for Christmas a couple of years ago and it had my father in law's step grandchildren bouncing off the walls!!

[sarahjay]

My grandmother used to make what she called a French Coconut Pie, similar to a chess pie but full of shredded coconut. The coconut on top makes a crispy brown crust topping a sweet eggy filling. Sooo good!

[sandylc]

Sounds like my mom's toasted coconut pie.....good but really sweet.

[sandylc]

Toasted Coconut Pie

3 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. melted butter
4 T. fresh lemon juice
1 t. vanilla
1 1/3 c sweetened shredded coconut

Combine everything. Pour into unbaked piecrust. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until "done". Serve with whipped cream.

[dberg1313]

How about grape pie, lemon strip pie, ground cherry pie (ground cherries out of season by now though), Montgomery pie, or for savory meals - onion pie, corn pie, or potato pie?

[Ruthie789]

What is a Montgomery pie?

[buttertart]

Here's a corker for you (one of my mom's specialties, and VERY SW Ontario): lemon cake pie. Basically the lemon pudding that's made with beaten egg whites and separates into cake and sauce when you bake it, baked in a pie shell. God I'd love to taste hers again.

[emily]

Sounds like Lemon Sponge Pie, which my grandmother (from PA) made.

[TrishUntrapped]

Yes, Lemon Cake Pie is a/k/a Lemon Sponge Pie, and it is an old favorite.

[Caitlin McGrath]

Coincidentally, I was paging through the cookbook Rustic Fruit Desserts yesterday, and it includes a recipe for Lemon Sponge Tart. In the head note, one of the authors says that the pie was one of her Pennsylvanian grandmother's specialties (she updated it to tart form for the book). I've made many a lemon sponge pudding, but hadn't before heard of it in pie form.

[buttertart]

Give it a whirl, it's good!

[LJS]

I remember this well from SW ON, Buttertart...just recently a variation won a national contest from the contestants home here in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Glo, the winner is early 80's, quite a glamourous granny and British by birth. But both flavour and recipe seem to be my Toronto Nana's lemon sponge pudding/pie.

[Georgia Strait]

i remember on the ritz cracker box - the "mock apple pie" --- did anyone EVER make that - this was in the early 1980's on the box.

did anyone ever taste it? It's on the Kraft website - gets some "good" reviews
=============
flapper pie - anyone?

[coll]

Now that you mention it, I think I did many years ago. My husband is a Ritz cracker junkie. We hated it, as I recall, it did NOT taste like apples unless you were starving maybe...and hallucinating!

[prima]

I made mock apple pie after watching a Frasier episode in which it was mentioned. I didn't mind it. The cinnamon, sugar and lemon create something similar to an apple pie flavour, although there's no distinct apple flavour.

Obviously, it's not as good as a decent home-made or bakery-made apple pie, but I thought it tasted better than some supermarket apple pies and some canned pie fillings. The texture is mushy, since the filling is created by cooking crackers with sugar, water and lemon juice.

[TrishUntrapped]

I remember my late grandma making Mock Apple Pie once, but I didn't taste it. She said it cost more to make than a pie with apples so she was never going to make it again.

[jmcarthur8]

I had a very different pie today...a customer brought in a shredded carrot pie that she'd made. It looked pretty, and I expected it to taste like carrot cake, but it was pretty bland. I think with some cinnamon and cloves it might have been better.
I don't know if it's an old country recipe, but she's an old Southern gal who makes old timey recipes. Her pecan pie is so sweet (and eggy) it almost makes your teeth itch.

[chocolatetartguy]

I'd love to eat or make some sugar cream pie like I had in Indianapolis 2 years ago.

[sandylc]

Try this one:

Sugar Cream Pie

1 unbaked pie crust in disposable aluminum pan (helps to brown the crust on the bottom)
4 T. flour
2 T. cold butter
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
pinch salt
1 c. heavy cream
1 c. whole milk
1 t. vanilla
1 t. rum
freshly grated nutmeg

1.Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2.Place empty half sheet pan on the middle oven rack.
3.Put flour, butter, sugars, and salt into processor bowl and process until very finely blended. Dump into a large bowl and add a bit of the cream. Whisk a bit, then gradually add the rest of the cream and milk while whisking. Stir in the vanilla and rum.
4.Pour filling into the pie shell and top with fresh nutmeg. Carefully place pie on preheated sheet pan in oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 45 minutes, shielding the crust edges if they become overly brown.
5.Cool pie completely on a rack, then chill thoroughly

[rccola]

Pear and raisin pie. With vanilla ice cream.

Peanut butter pie.

[Cherylptw]

I don't know if you could get any more vintage than a sweet potato pie....and I love chess pie also

[sandylc]

My mom always made a coconut crunch pie. It was, if I remember correctly, eggs, butter, sugar, and coconut....baked in a crust. Horribly sweet, but aren't most of the older pies??? I do see a sugary trend in this thread!

[Ruthie789]

Pies are delicious whether sweet or tart or savory, that crust can embrace a lot of flavors, total versatility. My favorite is lemon pie with mile high meringue.

[prima]

Lordy, Lordy, look who's 40:
Banoffee Pie....it was created in 1972!

[buttertart]

Butterscotch meringue was a big favorite in our house when I was a kid, but I can't get one past the man here because he doesn't like butterscotch. Waah.
My mom made a lot of this and that cream and custard pies -- about which my brother's first wife (a you know what on wheels) famously said "I don't much care for clotted pies".

PS I love this thread.

[jmcarthur8]

Butterscotch with meringue on top?
Can you share a recipe?

Been wondering when you'd hop on this thread!

[Querencia]

Here is my great-grandmother's Butterscotch Pie recipe, straight from her handwritten cookbook. I remember her making this ca 1940 but have not made it myself so can't vouch for the recipe:

"BUTTERSCOTCH PIE: First Part: 1 cup brown sugar and butter the size of an egg. Put butter in pan and let it get hot then add sugar and brown. Next Part: 2 egg yolks, 4 tablespoons flour, 1 cup sweet milk or as much as you think it will take for a pie. Mix and heat then add to the first part and cook until thick. Beat whites for top."

My comment: 1 cup milk and 2 egg yolks, must be a small pie. I think I might double these quantities. And add some sugar and a bit of cream of tartar to the egg whites for the meringue.

[buttertart]

Seems to me my mom's was made with Sheriff's or Royal (or even Jello) scutterbotch pudding and pie filling, labeled as such, and a standard 2 or 3 egg white meringue, in a prebaked (fully) pie shell.

[prima]

Sounds like she was a piece of work. ;-)

[coll]

Oh man, my husband LOVES butterscotch, I'll have to pick up a few boxes next time they're on sale. He'd eat that in any crust I chose. And would be a good sub for the vanilla in Banana Cream I bet.

[Ruthie789]

I was watching a show on TV about Quince trees which used to be quite common in Eastern Canada but now can only be found on our West Coast. I have never seen quince fruit but am interested in planting a tree in my backyard. I think this may be a common ingredient in old pie recipes. Has anyone ever tried baking with quinces? I am providing a recipe below:
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recip...

[Savour]

I have a quince tree in my yard! We've yet to get any qunces though - they all had weevils of some sort this year.

I made a quince tart for Thanksgiving -- similar to a French pear tart. I peeled and sliced the quinces, then stewed the quinces with honey and wine, and built a tart with frangipane. It was delicious -- even better than pear. I was going to make a quince custard pie -- next year!

[buttertart]

Quince are delicious and they cook to the most beautiful color. Must get some, they smell so wonderful too.

[Ruthie789]

Be prepared I spotted them at the grocers at $1.99 per quince. They do smell very good.

[coll]

One of the very few things I don't look at the price, I just pouce if I see them for sale. Just checked my receipt from earlier this week, I paid $2.50 each! But this was at Eataly in Manhattan so I was on a buying binge.

[chefathome]

I am green with envy! I love all things quince but alas cannot grow it up here. That tart sounds sublime.

[coll]

I was so excited to find them in the local ethnic market in October; I made a simple jam with them and my houseguests at the time almost finished off all 3 pints. I have to hoard what little is left, but glad to introduce a newbie to this exotic flavor.

[nikkihwood]

Good 'ole chocolate pudding pie. My spouse was raised on this, as long as his mom cooked, she made him one a few times a year.

I nudged him toward some other chocolate pie **types** [Jacques Torres' Chocolate Tart. Tarheel Pie.], but he wistfully mentions good old puddin pie once in a while.

Actually, I guess Tarheel Pie is vintage ...

[coll]

I started making pistachio pudding pie (instant) to get rid of some, and it goes over better than you would think, across the board.

[prima]

I had never heard of Grey Squirrel Pie (apparently a poplular Victorian pie, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2086571/Anyone-grey-squirrel-pie-Victorian-delicacy-enjoys-revival-bid-save-red-cousins-extinction.html ) until I searched for Pink Squirrel Pie (http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1637,... )!

[prima]

Rum pie.

Grasshopper pie.

Brandy Alexander Pie. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/mag...

[sandylc]

Grasshopper pie. I made that one as a young teenager. Marshmallow cream, ugh. Creme de menthe and creame de cacao. Naughty.

[prima]

I haven't had a slice of Grasshopper Pie in a very long time. Might have to make one over the holidays.

[coll]

I used to make Grasshopper Pie when it was at the height of fashion. The first time, my father told my little sister it was made out of grasshoppers but she had to eat some to be polite. She burst out crying and I felt so bad for her, but a fond memory now of the olden days. My father had a wicked sense of humor.

[prima]

;-)

[pinehurst]

Oh heck yeah, Grasshopper Pie. Absolutely forgot about that--how could I? Fine stuff!

[Bacardi1]

Definitely "Grasshopper Pie"!!! A favorite of my mom's back when the "Grasshopper Cocktail" was popular.

In fact, I just got home from the supermarket & liquor store where I picked up the ingredients, as I plan to "try" to make it for this Sunday's St. Pat's Day. Baking ain't my forte, but I think even I can handle this one - lol!!

[coll]

Grasshopper Pie was one of my first attempts at something fancy (which of course was back in the 1970s). I've told this story before, but when I served it, my sister who was a tiny tot at the time, was instructed by my father to eat some to be polite, even though it was made out of insects. When my sister burst into tears, I had to explain, but I doubt she even tried it. She has become a world class cook in the meantime, who knows, maybe it broadened her horizions!

[Thanks4Food]

I have a booklet from 1949 that's nearly falling apart called "Aunt Chick's Pies." I'm sure this belonged to my grandmother or even great grandmother. I'll list some of the more unusual-sounding pies; if anyone wants details, let me know.

Cream pies--name a flavor and she's got it, including apricot cream, maple cream, Santiago chocolate cream, raisin cream, Magic chocolate pie with marshmallow topping, Imperial cream, Duke of Orange cream pie, cherry caramelized cream pie, date pineapple, California cream (pineapple and marshmallow)

Magic rhubarb pie, cranberry coconut, green grape pie, caramel pie, magic lemon banana pie, lemon souffle pie, pumpkin chiffon pie, refrigerator pumpkin pie, black bottom pie

Chiffon pies: egg nog pie, mocha chiffon pie, Southern sweetmeat pie, summer moonlight chiffon pie, Ambrosia (green or Malaga grape), prune chiffon, date-marshmallow, coffee chiffon.

Green tomato pie, tomato pie, carrot and apple pie, red hot apple pie, mince pie (calls for "mince meat" and topped with blackberry sauce), green tomato mince meat, Christmas pie mincemeat (all fruit plus suet), a couple recipes for mince meat--"uncooked" that goes in a stone jar for a week, and "Auntie Mitch's" that contains "5 lbs beef, part heart"--grape pie.

Prune whip pie ("marvelous!" it says), apple pie Wau-ki-ki, prune pie majestic.

Custard pies: chocolate, peanut butter, lemon sponge, pecan, boiled cider and raisin, orange nut, date and peel, Old English date pie, orange sponge, cherry custard, rhubarb custard, maple sugar, coffee marshmallow.

Then, "Very, Very Rich Famous Pies of Custard Nature": pumpkin pie with crushed nut brittle, molasses crumb pie, pineapple marshmallow, prune custard, lemon pudding, Marlborough apple pie, carrot pie, Damson or other preserve pie, persimmon pie, squash pie (3 versions), pumpkin and mince meat, chess pie, vinegar custard, transparent pie, molasses nut.

She seems to claim to have 352 pies in here, but for some reason starts counting around 100. And the recipes are very brief with slight variations for the different flavors.

[sandylc]

That was great to read!

[jmcarthur8]

There are so many names in there that sound enticing! For now, the cream pies are piquing my interest - the apricot cream and Duke of Orange cream especially.

Recipes? Please?

[Thanks4Food]

Everything below is as written in Aunt Chick's Pies:

Apricot Cream Pie--baked shell:
1. Make cream pie. Cool, beat, fill shell 1/3 full.
2. On this arrange canned apricots or 1 1/2 c dried apricots cooked with 1/2 c. sugar.
3. Fill shell with creamed filling. Sprinkle with toasted nuts or cocoanut. [That's how she spells it throughout.] Serve with whipped cream if desired.

Cream pie--baked shell:

1. In double boiler, scald 2 c. rich milk, preferably part cream.
2. Mix thoroughly, 1/2 c. sugar, 2 T. cornstarch and 3 T. flour (Note: 1 T cornstarch may be left out if a less firm consistency is desired.)
3. Add to scalded milk. Cook until thick and smooth, stirring occasionally. This will take about 15 minutes.
4. Add 3 yolks slightly beaten. (Observe precaution 5, #100). Cook about 2 minutes--long enough to cook eggs.
5. Add 3 T butter, 1/4 t. salt, and flavoring--1/2 t. almond and 1 t. vanilla, or 1/2 t. lemon and 1 t. vanilla, or 1 t nectar, or 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t, nutmeg and pinch cloves.
6. Top with 3 egg white meringue.

Precaution #5: When egg is added to a hot mixture, stir a couple of tablespoonfuls of the hot mixture into the slightly beaten eggs. Then stir egg mixture into the hot liquid that has been pulled off the flame. This will avoid cooking the eggs in chunks as would happen if you stirred the beaten eggs directly into the hot liquid. Then as stated above, over a moderate flame, stirring constantly, cook about 3 minutes after bubbling starts.

For a 3-egg meringue, either to the whites or to the sugar add about 1/4 t. salt, 1 t. vanilla, and 1/4 t. almond or lemon flavoring. Never fail to use a flavoring in meringue. Now LISTEN TO THIS: A very successful baker told me that to avoid "weeping" of the meringue--you know, the formation of the liquid between the filling and meringue--he added to the sugar 1/2 t. tapioca flour for a 3-egg meringue. Tapioca flour is hard to get. I believe that arrowroot flour does the same thing and it is obtainable at drugstores. Let me know your experiences with this.

[There are a lot more instructions for the meringue. Think I can leave it here?]

Duke of Orange Cream Pie--baked shell
1. Cook until clear and smooth, 2 c. milk, to which has been added 1 c. sugar and 1/2 c. flour.
2. Beat 2 yolks and add to hot mixture (observe precaution 5). Cook just long enough to cook yolks, about 2 or 3 minutes.
3. Add 1/3 c. orange juice, 1 t. rind, 1 t. vanilla
4. Cool. Beat well and pour 1/2 the filling into the baked shell.
5. Beat 1 c. cream stiff, fold into remaining custard and pour into pie.
6. Sprinkle with nuts, chill for few minutes, and serve soon.

[jmcarthur8]

Thanks! I love reading the old directions with the chatty way of speaking to the reader.

I'm printing these up..don't know which one I will make first, but I'll let you know how they turn out.

[Thanks4Food]

Yes, I love the old cookbooks. I was just looking over Coffee Marshmallow Custard Pie, and she says to use "instantaneous coffee." :-)

[Thanks4Food]

Last night I couldn't sleep and got to thinking about vintage pies...and it occurred to me that our family's absolute favorite was my mother's banana cream pie, and I don't think I've tasted one since probably the early 80's, before she got cancer. I never see banana cream pie anywhere in bakeries or restaurants--and you'd think with the way Southerners love pie and banana pudding, you'd see banana cream pie around.

If anyone wants to make one, it's the cream pie recipe from above, but "pour 1/3 of it cooled and beaten into shell. Arrange layer of thinly sliced bananas on this. Add balance of filling. Top with 3 egg white meringue" (also above).

My mother probably used this Aunt Chick's Pies booklet to make her banana cream pie because there's a note in her handwriting above the cream pie recipe that says, "I have much better results with cream pie if I cook it directly over a low flame, stirring constantly."

[LJS]

Just love this thread...especially the "Very, Very Rich Famous Pies of Custard Nature"!!!!!

[pine time]

Last month's Food Network magazine had a good article/recipe on regional pies. Made the Sugar Cream (complete with grated nutmeg), and danged if it wasn't what I recalled from Indiana. Shoofly was good, too, but sooo sweet (and I have a super-sweet tooth). Macadamia Nut Cream pie also delicious. Also had a Poppy Seed Torte, supposedly from Wisconsin, but haven't made it. There's also the requisite Mississippi Mud Pie, which I'll make later this month. Did I mention I've been gaining weight?

BTW, we're a household of 2, so a full pie recipe is just too much for us. Bought a 6" heavy gauge pie pan from Amazon, and it works beautifully. I halve recipes, and it's been just the right size.

[Ruthie789]

This is a fun thread JM.

[jmcarthur8]

Sure is!
I'd forgotten about this one, but when I was a kid, and we were living in either Los Angeles or Wichita (I forget which one it was.. that was a long long time ago, and we moved several times!) my mother used to make fig pie from the fig tree in our back yard.
I loved that pie, and have never seen or heard of anyone making one since. I really want to make one - just need to get enough figs next time they're in season. And I need to find a recipe that sounds like the right one.

[Ruthie789]

A fig tree in your backyard, that is lovely indeed, they are quite expensive to buy.

[travelerjjm]

Gooseberry pie. I have a few cans of gooseberries in the pantry so I can make one, but I haven't even seen those in over a decade.

[Ruthie789]

Gooseberries are very common in Newfoundland and are found in desserts there. Maybe a Newfoundland origin.

[pinehurst]

My nana (French Canadian) made something she called "milk pie", that was served warm and drizzled with real maple syrup--this was many moons ago. Relatives have since told me that it bears resemblance to some Penn Dutch pies they've had, though Nana never set foot in PA! I remember the ingredients were few---sugar, flour, milk--into a pie crust....sort of an eggless custard, I guess.

[sandylc]

And....we're back to Indiana Sugar Cream pie.......interesting! I wonder what the origins are? Now we have French Canadian and Amish....or did they develop theirs independently?

[Ruthie789]

French Canada calls it Tarte a la sucre a creme. It is often found on restaurant menus, it is very popular in Quebec.

[Savour]

I think if you're going for a sweet pie, milk, sugar and flour are probably pretty safe bets on ingredients!

Richard Sax's Classic Home Desserts has a bunch of fabulous vintage pie recipes.

[melpy]

I was going to ask if it was egg custard pie but obviously not which is another PA pie.

[toodie jane]

from the Depression era or 40's--Mock Apple Pie (made with saltines) and the 50's Banana Cream Pie made with vanilla wafers

[coll]

I found crusts premade with Nilla wafers on closeout sale and bought a couple just to make banana cream pie for my husband, he's from that era and it's still one of his favorites. It made it quick and easy and tasted fine.

[Savour]

I've made a buttermilk spice pie for the last two Thanksgivings, and a nesselrode pie the Thanksgiving before that. I'm also a lover of mincemeat, though mine is vegetarian.

[pine time]

Wow--blast from the past--haven't heard of nesselrode pie in donkey years! Thanks for the memories.

[Ruthie789]

Please explain what the heck is nesselrode?

[Savour]

Ruthie -- the implementation varies -- I think originally it was made with candied chestnuts and rum, and somewhere along the way the candied chestnuts got replaced with (cheaper) candied fruit. My nesselrode pie was a bavarian cream made with rum, candied fruits and chestnut puree (cover all the basis) and covered with chocolate shavings.

[Ruthie789]

Sounds lovely.

[jen kalb]

Ive had nesselrode pie exactly once, in an UWS diner in the early 70s. Do you have a good recipe? its delicious stuff.

[Savour]

I cobbled together a recipe based on what I read of the origins of the pie and other recipes I could find and posted it on my blog - mine was sort of a bavarian cream flavored with chestnut puree and rum folded together with candied fruits and topped with chocolate curls. Comments ranged from "This tastes like I remember" to "That's not REAL Nesselrode pie"

[Caitlin McGrath]

My mother made nesselrode pie on occasion when I was a child, and my memory is that it was essentially a cream flavored with rum, with candied fruit, topped with shaved chocolate, in a meringue crust. No chestnut, though.

[Savour]

I think that's fairly common in the dishes, but apparently the origins of the dish included chestnuts:
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/07/gar...

It was a pretty subtle flavor in my pie. My mom said it tasted like the nesselrode pies she had when she was a kid. I didn't have anything to compare it to.

[Caitlin McGrath]

Thanks, that's interesting. I don't know where my mother found the recipe she used, though she probably did so in the '60s, but the meringue crust was what set it apart from others. Apropos to a discussion of vintage pies, this was what's called an angel pie - a baked meringue crust with a cream filling. Not something you see much these days, though not dissimilar in concept to a pavlova, I suppose.

[Querencia]

Just now I checked the 1931 Joy of Cooking, the Settlement Cookbook with 20 re-editings between 1901 and 1954, and Marian Harland's Complete Cookbook (1901 and 1903) and, interestingly, none of them has Nesselrode Pie but all of them have Nesselrode Pudding, which seems to be the pie filling sans crust. The recipes are all over the map. Settlement makes a custard of eggs and milk, sets it with gelatine, and adds raisins and almonds. Harland makes an even richer custard (8 eggs and double cream), freezes it like ice cream, and adds a lot of marrons glaces. Rombauer stays with the jelled custard but adds a little rum. A fourth, American Heritage Cookbook (1954, Chief Editor Cleveland Amory), omits both gelatine and rum but adds chestnut puree and Malaga. So I would have been wrong on all counts because I remember when Nesselrode Pie was often on restaurant menus and would have bet on custard + gelatin + minced glace' fruit + a good slug of rum. One book says it was invented by Count Nesselrode. By me he could keep the chestnuts, but I'd stay with Caitlin's mother's shaved chocolate. And definitely the rum.

[THewat]

I grew up with a Saltine pie. I haven't made it for years, but I remember it being surprisingly good. Of course it also has pecans & bourbon in it - what's not to like?

[melpy]

Shoo fly pie is so popular where I live that they sell it in one slice increments in te grocery stores. I am not a fan and prefer montgery pie because it is less sweet.

[blue room]

melpy, I found a recipe for Montgomery pie
http://www.grouprecipes.com/92417/mon...
it looks like it's a two layer pie -- is this the pie you mean? It is interesting, with two textures.

[melpy]

Yes it has two textures. The top is like cake and te bottom is like pecan or shoofly pie but less sweet.

[blue room]

Maybe a Shaker lemon pie? It's made with paper thin slices of lemon.
Here's one recipe:
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes...

The Fannie Farmer Baking Book has a section on "Old American Pies" and also a Parsnip Pie.

[Ruthie789]

A parsnip pie, I am going home to look it up.

[blue room]

It's on this page, Ruthie789 --
http://books.google.com/books?id=oioe...
Someday (you know, "someday") I'd like to make one!

[Ruthie789]

I am going to make one. Sounds interesting. Wonder how parsnips morph into a sweet pie.

[sunshine842]

Parsnips have a decidedly sweet note to them naturally. Like carrots.

[coll]

Does rhubarb pie count? I don't see them much of anywhere and have recently fell in love with rhubarb, so had to try it in a pie too. Everyone I offered it to exclaimed, oh my grandmother used to make that. I remember rhubarb taking over a big portion of my grandmother's property (by the outhouse!) but don't remember her ever making anything out of it.

Anyway, someone here offered a simple recipe, which was rhubarb, a bit of sugar and a package of strawberry instant Jello. Maybe a tad of cinnamon? I shared with others in my age group, to rave reviews and recollections of grandma. They all swore it tasted just like hers.

[TrishUntrapped]

My mother-in-law, who also makes the Hickory Nut Pie, makes a Creamed Rhubarb Pie, which I don't know if it is old school per se, but it certainly seems like it. Despite its name it doesn't contain milk or cream.

Creamed Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients:

3 cups rhubarb (Sliced and put into large bowl)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon butter, softened or melted
2 eggs beaten
9-inch pie crust shell (unbaked)

Blend sugar, flour, nutmeg and butter. To that add the two beaten eggs. Beat until smooth. Pour over the rhubarb and stir to coat. Pour into pastry lined pie plate, bake at 425 degrees for 40 - 50 minutes.

[Ruthie789]

Creamed Rhubarb pie is delicious!

[jen kalb]

I dont know why its called creamed - my mom's recipe has the eggs and flour - no nutmeg or butter. I always have loved the caramelized, part where the juices combine with the egg-flour and crust.

[amyamelia]

We call this rhubarb custard pie. My mother makes it with nutmeg, as above, but my grandmother used orange zest instead. We also put a lattice top over it. Everyone loves this pie.

[Ruthie789]

Are you willing to share the recipe, it sounds delicious.

[toodie jane]

http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/p...

[amyamelia]

Of course!
This recipe is out of the old Betty Crocker cookbook.
For a 9 inch pie-
make pastry for a two-crust pie.
Beat slightly 3 eggs, add 2 2/3 T milk, then 2 c. sugar ( i use about 1.5 cups), 4 T flour and 3/4 t. nutmeg. Mix in 4 c. cut-up pink rhubarb. Pour into bottom crust, dot with 1 T butter, and make lattice for the top crust. Bake 50-60 mins at 400 degrees.

serve slightly warm (with some not-too sweet whipped cream or vanilla ice cream)

In my family we always have to make two pies: one as above and the other without nutmeg but with grated orange zest in its place (1-2 T) since there are some very strong ideas about what makes the best flavoring. I like them both.

[pcdarnell]

That's the recipe my family uses too, from the old BC cookbook. My sister and one of my sons both request this instead of a birthday cake. My parents have rhubarb growing in the yard (NH). It kills me to buy it, but I'm in CA and haven't tried growing it.
I prefer strawberry rhubarb pie, myself.

[Ruthie789]

Thank you for posting.

[jmcarthur8]

I've made one from my old Fanny Farmer Baking Book that is called "Almost Rhubarb Pie". It has 2 eggs and a half cup milk in it to make that custardy base. I love it (but then I love any rhubarb anything).

[Ruthie789]

So do I, rhubarb enhances just about anything.

[Ruthie789]

Yes it counts. Rhubarb is very old school, I think.

[olyolyy]

I love a rhubarb-only pie.

[AnnieWilliams]

Thomas Jefferson pie-similar to a chess pie. Also shoo-fly pie.

[Wahooty]

Our Thanksgiving pie was a hickory nut pie...basic pecan pie formula, but made with hickory nuts instead. I have never had this anywhere else...mostly because I don't personally know anyone other than my retired father with the motivation/persistence to crack enough hickory nuts to make a whole pie, let alone enough to freeze and share (I had been hoarding mine in the freezer for quite some time). But it was head and shoulders above any pecan pie I have ever had.

I mean, oh-dear-LORD good....

[TrishUntrapped]

Wahooty, my mother-in-law makes hickory nut pie. I've helped her shell those nuts and they are indeed a royal pain. But, as you said, well worth it!

[Ruthie789]

Don't know if I can get hickory nuts in Montreal, but now I am on the lookout for them.

[emily]

I'll have to try this. I've been hoarding hickory nuts in the freezer for a while.

[sandylc]

Hickory nuts....YUM

[pasuga]

My grandmother made a terrific cracker pie: crushed Ritz crackers and finely chopped walnuts or pecans. Mixed with sugar, vanilla, baking powder and then whipped egg whites. Great served warm with real whipped cream and a little grated chocolate.

[TrishUntrapped]

Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook lists some old fashioned pies:

Pennsylvania Dutch "Cake Pies" for example, have a pastry crust but the filling is more like a cake than a pie. Examples: Shoofly, Lemon Cake-Pie, Blueberry Funny Cake-Pie, and Old Fashioned Date Pie.

Some other unusual old time pies:
Marlborough Pie made with applesauce, lemon, and four eggs, has a lemon-apple taste and cuts like jelly.
Blueberry-Lemon Sponge Pie, has a blueberry layer and a lemon sponge layer.
Grandma's Fresh Currant Pie
Homestead Raisin Pie, includes muscat raisins, vinegar and meringue.
Buttermilk Pie in Cornmeal Pastry
Hoosier Cream Pie, unlike a traditional cream pie where you bake the crust separately from the filling, this one calls for brown and granulated sugars, flour, cream, and vanilla cooked together with the crust.
Lemon Whey Pie, similar to the modern Lemon Meringue Pie but uses 1 1/2 cups of whey in the filling.
Oatmeal Pie, tastes like Pecan Pie.
Apple Pork Pie, combines fresh apples and salt pork.
Banbury Tarts, Old English raisin turnovers with cracker crumbs in the filling.

[sandylc]

The Hoosier Cream Pie is usually called (Hoosier) SUGAR Cream Pie....

Great list.

The Apple Pork Pie looks really interesting.

[TrishUntrapped]

Interesting history of that (Hoosier) Sugar Cream Pie. One of the so-called "Desperation Pies" along with Vinegar and Mock Apple.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Histor...

[jmcarthur8]

I like the mention of nutmeg on top of the sugar cream pie. Thanks for the link. It's fun to read the story of these old foods!

[sandylc]

It is a delicious pie, but WAY TOO SWEET.

Marcia Adams' version is the mix-with-a-finger-in-the-crust type.

[chocolatetartguy]

The version at Shapiro's deli is not that sweet. It is actually kind of refreshing in a simple kind of way. My favorite thing to eat during my weeklong Indianapolis visit.

[nofunlatte]

It is also the official state pie of Indiana.

[jmcarthur8]

How did I live in Indiana for twenty seven years and not know that?

Now I really want to make one!

[sunshine842]

yes -- I haven't made one in years.

I made one for a potluck at work years ago -- there were several of us from Indiana, and we'd all been talking about how good they were.

The receptionist took a second piece, declaring "WOW! This is so amazing, I'd never guess it was sugar-free!" -- In the babble of voices in the break room, she'd misheard "sugar cream" as "sugar free". (totally understandable!) It took us a few minutes to quit laughing, since the Hoosiers all knew that this pie is ALL sugar.

No harm done -- she was just watching her already-svelte figure, not diabetic, so no one panicked.

[nofunlatte]

jm, it was only given that State Pie designation in 2009.

[jmcarthur8]

Well, alrighty then. I moved to Georgia in 2002. Wonder if we have a state pie here?

[Ruthie789]

The Malborough pie intrigues me do you have a recipe?

[KathrynneAnne]

I first saw this pie referenced on a Food Network special a few years ago. I was so intrigued with the pie that I printed out the recipe. Still haven't made it as we are not drinkers and never have sherry around. Here is a link to the recipe. http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/reci...

[Ruthie789]

That sounds delicious. Thank you for posting.

[TrishUntrapped]

I was going to write the recipe out when I got home, but then I did a quick google and found this link. Two young boys made Marlborough Pie! Of all the pies in that book they chose this one. Very interesting.

http://amyalessio.com/?p=6633

BTW, for those interested in the Farm Journal Pie Cookbook, here is a link. I have the mass market paperback one in the blue cover. Not sure how it differs from the 1965 version. I would not pay the "new rate" posted on Amazon, that's ABSURD. But some of the "used" rates are rather reasonable, especially the one for $2.83. My copy is tattered up the ying yang and the cover is almost torn off. This book is out of print, so it's worth it, especially if you can get it on the cheap.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_...

[Ruthie789]

I've got to stock up on applesauce, many of the pie recipes seems to have this simple ingredient. Thank you for posting.

[annfaulkner]

GREAT cookbook.

[buttertart]

I love that Farm Journal Pie cookbook (also the Blue Ribbon one).

[jen kalb]

its my go to for pies generally, very reliable. for example their pecan pie recipes are simple and good. This year I made the Thorne recipe instead - I really liked the taste but my audience complained a little about the lack of the custardy layer.

[LJS]

Buttermilk Pie in Cornmeal pastry! First time I had that was dropping off our little girl (early twenties) for a stint as a trainer at a Tim Horton Camp near Lousiville, Kentucky. We were still sighing over a whole summer without kids and decided to treat ourselves to dinner at Marks Feed Store (BBQ heaven!)

We drowned all our sorrows in that amazing pie.

There is a great recipe for same in the Farm Journal Cookbook devoted to pies.

[sandylc]

My grandmother used to make applesauce pie. It was homemade applesauce thickened with flour and topped with butter pats. Had a bottom crust only.

[Ruthie789]

I am having a visual of this one along with a nice cup of tea!

[Ruthie789]

My raisin pie is indeed an old recipe, I suspect a pie with cider vinegar may well be an old recipe. I just find an interesting pie blog and one recipe is a vintage strawberry sponge pie link below:
http://www.flouronmyface.com/2011/04/...

[Ruthie789]

I am hoping to see many old recipes, keeping my fingers crossed!

[sandylc]

Sugar Cream Pie.

[buttertart]

I have always wanted to try that one. Indiana, eh?

[ipsedixit]

Ritz Cracker "apple pie"

[KaimukiMan]

always been tempted to try that.

[mamachef]

Chess Pie; Mincemeat pie; Green tomato pie.

[jmcarthur8]

When I was a kid, my father told me minces were little critters like weasels, and that's what the pie was made of.

[sandylc]

My husband thought mincemeat was made from mice. As in the cartoon cat chasing the mouse shouting "I'll make mincemeat out of you!"

[nikkihwood]

I could not even find mincemeat this year, either the jar or the old-style blocks that are reconstituted. [Southern CA] Fortunately, I have several jars with expiration dates far in the future. I love mince pie.

[Roland Parker]

Mincemeat fillings is still available in East Coast supermarkets, but I agree that the pie itself is rare to find these days, unlike in the UK where's there's mincemeat tarts just about everywhere you look at this time of year.

I've never cared for mincemeat pies but love the mincemeat tarts, which is odd I suppose.

[jen kalb]

we make mincemeat pie every thanksgiving. I make the homemade mincemeat severalquarts at a time from apples, pears, raisins citrus and spices (Farm Journal Pie Cookbook recipe) and can it up - lasts for several years. (alternative, a jar of the nonesuch); wne baking, doctor it with a couple flavorful sliced ir chopped apples, some toasted and chopped walnuts, melted butter and rum or brandy, two crust pie shell done. loved by all my kids and inlaws. I agree that I prefer it in a tart - higher ratio of crust to mincemeat.

[coll]

Someone who loved mincemeat pies once told me that they were originally made with chop meat, which considering the name sounds plausible. Does anyone know the story, probably some Depression era fad.

[mamachef]

No, it's waaaaaaay beyond that. "Mince" was indeed chopped meat, but was used in Medieval times as a way of preserving meat w/ spices and alcohol, and eventually found its way into pies. The first versions more than likely were not at all sweet.

[jen kalb]

actually my fruit mincemeat is called "mock" mincemeat in the cookbook. They also have recipes for mincemeat with venison and beef. I dont think it was a fad at all but perhaps the original version of the dish. When you think of pies like tortiere, and british meat pies it is less strange.

[coll]

It actually sounds good to me. That's why I was wondering if anyone still makes them like that. The guy who told me claimed they made them with meat in his family, not that I ever got to try.

[mamachef]

Did you want a recipe? I have a good one that starts w/ chuck (so it's actually braised and shredded, more than minced).

[coll]

I'd love to take a look. I make Shepherd's Pie often, with lamb of course and then other variations (turkey, beef, etc), so I think a mincemeat would be a nice addtion to my repertoire.

[poundcake]

My grandmother always made mincemeat when she came into some venison. My aunt taught me to make it that way. The meat is chopped very fine and cooked until becomes the tiniest, fibrous shreds. It's definitely sweet, you almost wouldn't know there's meat in there.

My aunt explained that a hundred years ago, it was a convenience food: A big batch was made in the fall, stored in crocks, and could be scooped into a crust for (relatively) quick tea-time offering.

[sandylc]

Mincemeat typically had meat in it when I was younger.

[Ruthie789]

Some mincemeat pies contain suet, which is a fat from the meat. I make a fruit only version but some commercial pies contain suet which is meat. The suet version does not taste like meat at all and is very delicious.
Plum puddings have suet in them as well so read your labels if you want to avoid this ingredient.

[coll]

My aunt used to make the most delicious plum pudding every year, with a recipe from an Irish friend, but stopped making them because they were so darned unhealthy. At least to her! They were goooood!

[TrishUntrapped]

We have plum pudding every year for Christmas, its actual name is suet pudding, but no one will call it that. But that's what it is, and that's what's in it.

[coll]

Yeah she told me that. But I figure once a year shouldn't be a problem...however she was sworn to secrecy with the recipe, so it's just a memory now.

[TrishUntrapped]

I'll get my mother in law's recipe for Plum Pudding and post it later. It's so good. She actually steams it in a crockpot now. The recipe is so old it came from England with my MIL's great great grandmother. It's very simple, but so delicious. Tastes like spice cake. She serves it with three optional toppings, hard sauce, whipped cream, or a lemon butter sauce.

[coll]

That sounds great, appreciate it and I love the crockpot angle. I remember my aunt complaining how much work it was. She never gave us toppings, but recommended hard sauce which I found a wonderful recipe for, so I'm good to go.

[Ruthie789]

Sounds delicious.

[THewat]

Trish, Do you have to start it a month in advance?

[Caitlin McGrath]

Trish, if you can describe your MIL's method for crockpot steaming when you get the recipe, that would be great. My mother makes a steamed fig pudding (recipe is from the Craig Claiborne NYT Cookbook), and she might be interested.

[TrishUntrapped]

Coll, Ruthie, Thewat, Caitlin, because Plum Pudding isn't a vintage pie, I spun it off onto another thread:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/880466

[Ruthie789]

Thank you.

[nikkihwood]

Wikipedia says mincemeat goes back to 16th century Britain. It, at least for us, was a time-honored New England tradition.

And yes, there originally was meat in the mix. Suet seems to have replaced mince at some point. Here's the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincemeat

A British friend once sent me several jars of her homemade mix, which included suet. It was delicious - best pies Mom and I ever made.

Oh, jen kalb, doctoring scratch or Nonesuch with rum is **the** way to go!

[coll]

That could explain it, the person I was talking about was borderline Berkshires.

Doctoring anything with rum is always MY way to go! I keep Capt Morgans on hand if case spices are called for too. Otherwise Jamaican.

[Athena]

Mincemeat recipes containing meat date back to the 15th century in England. I have made Jane Grigson's mincemeat from her English Food book, it's entitled Mrs Beeton's recipe which would put it somewhere in the 1860s - it calls for minced rump steak - it was very, very good.

[LJS]

Farm Journal Cookbook is the BEST source for most of the items mentioned in this thread so far...I have a collection of 9 of their wonderful books, carefully acquired over 40 years, with duplicates going to new brides in our circle-got my first FJ Cookbook, source of my wedding cake recipe, aged 19, on a visit to Shelbourne Village (?) an olde-time restored village.

[Savour]

I make my own mincemeat from scratch -- it's surprisingly easy. Of course, I'm too lazy to source suet so I just use butter. Butter, brown sugar, apples, raisins, currants, orange peel, spice and brandy.

[Georgia Strait]

green tomato mincemeat - that's the best. plus what you've included above

[weezieduzzit]

Do you have a Fresh and Easy near you, nikkihwood ? They have it in jars.

[nikkihwood]

Thank you! I will check tomorrow, hopefully it's still in stock.

[adventuresinbaking]

Raisin pie was known as funeral pie, I've read. It was a fruit that people always had in their pantry, no matter what time of year.

When I could eat wheat and dairy, I would make chess pie as a casual quick pie. It was so creamy and tasty. I've also made Ozark Apple pie, or how to make a pie when you only have one apple. It was actually more of a coffee cake style, still tasty.

My "Pie" cookbook also has a recipe for watermelon rind pie. I never got to try it. However, it was an interesting read. It amazes me how resourceful people were with food.

[Ruthie789]

What is a chess pie?

[ipsedixit]

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Histor...

[StrandedYankee]

Chess pie is the most delicious pie ever made by mankind. Except when it comes out too, TOO sweet. Then it can be gross. But when it's good, there is nothing else as good.

[paulj]

My daughter in law made combination chess, pumpkin and pecan pie for Thanksgiving that was quite good. Rich without being overly sweet.

My favorite when growing up was a sour cream raisin pie, that kind that uses an egg and sour cream custard with lots of raisins.

[Jeri L]

I was once curious enough to try a recipe I have for Vinegar Pie....recipes are available all over the web. It's clearly a recipe born of desperation, when you didn't get enough fruit put by to last the winter, but it's not bad. Think lemon pie, but with cider vinegar for the acid instead of lemon juice.