I am writing this on the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, one of the nadirs of a really bad decade that hadn’t even seen Jimmy Carter elected President yet.
I have to get along to the Gold Cup festival today at Great Meadow, so I am writing ahead a bit.
We were talking about pies the other night. It had got around to dessert topics, since Lovely Jamie had tucked into a sandwich before coming over and wanted to know what kind of cake Kate Jansen had produced for the evening meal.
Old Jim was expansive, and began a narrative about the pies of his life. His mother had been an awesome cook- his Dad was a pretty good chef as well, but his mom specialized in the best apple pie in the County, and won the gold medal at the Fair one year that came with a $100 prize.
That was when a c-note was something significant, and the accomplishment was documented in the Northhampton and Springfield papers.
His father specialized in a sort of hybrid lemon-cake pie with sweet-sour layer in the middle, but that got me thinking about key-lime and pecan pies, and the discussions rambled from there.
“My Mom never looked at a recipe,” declared Jim. “It got her in trouble one time. She was supposed to make three pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. Woe betide any dog or bird that tried to get close to them as they cooled on the porch railing on the back of the house. Anyway, this time she got distracted by something and when the pies came out of the oven, she realized she had forgotten to include the eggs in the filling.”
“Complete waste, right?”
“You bet. The three pies went right into the sink. A complete write-off. She made three more, popped them in the oven, and when they were supposed to be done, she realized she had forgotten the eggs again.”
“Ouch. Bet she was out of all the ingredients except the eggs, right?”
“Yep. She yelled for me and my brother to go the store immediately. She was beside herself.”
Willow’s patio was buzzing with the glory of the Spring afternoon and Jasper and Sammy were bustling in and out the double doors serving the thirsty customers.
Ultimately, we covered all the pies, we could think of, including the cherry pies made from the uniquely succulent fruit grown in Leelanau County in Michigan’s northwest lower peninsula.
“So what was your favorite pie?” I asked, thinking of all of them in an endless line of shimmering caloric glory.
Jim smiled and leaned forward. “Prune.”
Never in my life would I have considered that my favorite pie, but if Jim likes it, I am prepared to give it a try. In the meantime, I need to go put on my seersucker suit, grab a suitable bow tie, slip on my white buck shoes and clap my straw hat on and go to the races at Great Meadow.
With luck, the gang will be back in time to walk over to Willow to watch the Kentucky Derby.
Jim’s Prune Pie
Ingredients :
1. 4 C flour
2. 1 1/4 C sugar
3. 1/4 tsp salt
4. 2 tsp baking powder
5. 1 C shortening
6. 1 1/2 lbs prunes, pitted (I used SunSweet Pitted Prunes – 18oz)
7. Pinch of ground cloves
8. 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
9. 10-15 Tbls. cold water
10.Milk
Directions :
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and 1/2 cup of sugar
3. Cut in the shortening until the mixture is crumbly
4. Add enough cold water to make a soft dough
5. Knead slightly and cut in half
6. Roll out dough, 1/4 inch thick, and line cookie sheet with one
7. Cook prunes in water until soft, about 5-10 minutes, drain
8. Mash well, adding 3/4 cups of sugar (to taste, you may not need it all)
9. Season with cinnamon and cloves
10.Spread filling evenly over bottom crust
11.Roll out remaining dough, 1/4 inch thick
12.Cover with top crust pinch seams and cut steam vents
13.Lightly brush top of pie with milk and sprinkle with sugar
14.Bake until crust is slightly brown, approximately 30-40 minutes
Recipe courtesy of Val and Leo at http://valnleo.blogspot.com/2010/02/did-you-say-prune-pie.html
Hat Tip: JPeter
Story copyright 2015 Vic Socotra
www.vicscotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303