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If you love Southern food, there’s a good chance you take the taste of a biscuit very seriously. A staple in the Southern kitchen from breakfast to dinner, biscuits also allow each person to personalize theirs with honey, gravy, and different preserves. Most biscuits are made with the same ingredients: flour, buttermilk or milk, and some kind of fat or butter, but within the preparation is where many secret steps and family traditions take root.
Being a most adamant fan of breakfast & brunch, for me it doesn’t get much more Southern than the biscuit. I love the notion of a flour-covered countertop, a strong tin biscuit cutter, and a warm biscuit just out of the oven in time for the meal to be enjoyed fresh.
This week we’ll be talking ingredients, secrets, favorites, and traditions for our biscuit #southernchat. I hope you can join us in the chat and that we might encourage you to share a special recipe of your own, or make your own biscuits for you and your family. Join in this week for our biscuit #southernchat at 9:00PM est this Monday 3/18/13.
#southernchat: biscuits (Monday 3/28/13 9:00PM est)
Q1: If you had to describe a Southern biscuit in three words, what would they be?
Q2: What’s the secret to making biscuits from scratch?
Q3: What is your favorite local restaurant to find the best biscuits in town?
Q4: What are your favorite spreads/toppings for biscuits?
Q5: What’s your favorite meal or recipe that includes biscuits? Feel free to share links!
Giveaways: This week we have TWO extra-special giveaways this week! Just join in the chat by using the #southernchat hashtag sometime from 9:00-10:00pm est on 3/18/13 and you’ll be automatically entered to win. Two lucky winners will be chosen at random.
The first is thanks to Southern blogger, Kate Spears of Southern Belle Simple and the International Biscuit Festival to be held 5/15-18 in Knoxville, TN. They are kindly giving away a pair of tickets to Biscuit Boulevard for one of our lucky #southernchat friends to enjoy! Now that is one celebration I’d love to take part in {judges needed?}.
The second is thanks to our friends at Pillsbury, who are giving away a fun gift basket to one lucky #southernchat friend this week! I personally love their flaky layers biscuit, which is my favorite quality of a true Southern biscuit, and they’re so perfect when you’re in a pinch for a quick, home-cooked meal!
Image via MyRecipes.com
I always think giveaways are such a great way to start off the week. I know some people dread Mondays, but I for one love that fresh start to a new week. A much better thought than the end to a weekend – all about perspective.
Well, today I have a fabulous giveaway to share from the very lovely Ashley Brooke Designs. I have long been a fan of her work so it’s about time for us to do a little collaboration! Her custom illustrations are just so killer and personal. And, today we have cooked up a little something fun for you – in the kitchen of course!
What better to pair with your IceMilk Apron than this adorable collection of lemon fresh recipe cards & notecards! You know I am a fan of the handwritten recipe card, and these little gems will be perfect for you to start or ramp up your collection of family recipes, perfect for capturing and keeping for generations.
And, lemon is truly one of my favorite flavors, so to enter the giveaway you can simply tell us your favorite lemon-inspired recipe! And, even better, Ashley will be back on the blog tomorrow to share a family recipe with us for part of the Heirloom Recipe Series!
As always, entering is so simple. You can earn one entry for each of the below that you might choose to do, for a chance at 4 total entries – just remember to leave a comment for EACH of the below that you complete so your efforts will be counted!
1. Leave a comment below telling us about your favorite lemon-inspired recipe!
2. Follow @abdesigns on Twitter
3. Follow @heirloomed on Twitter
4. RT the following: I just entered to win @abdesigns lemon recipe cards at @heirloomed! http://bit.ly/Uh04Zd
Be sure to enter by Friday, Sept 21st at 5PM EST.
Also, take a minute to pop over and visit Ashley Brooke Designs to see all her illustrated pieces!
Giveaway entries must be submitted between 9-17-12 and 9-21-12 at 5PM EST . Winner to be chosen at random and will be announced on 9-24-12. Open only to US residents. A maximum of four (4) entries per person are allowed. No purchase is necessary of course. Some restrictions may apply.
I continue to be excited by the different nuances of the Heirloom Recipe Series with each new guest. And, this week I’m excited to have TWO special guests! The “dynamic duo” of Valley & Co. – a husband + wife wedding and events planning team. What could possibly be sweeter or more passionate? I am in love. And, their love for the beach seems to rival mine – which I both love and appreciate!
And, if they couldn’t be any more fabulous, they are hosting a fun IceMilk Aprons giveaway over on their blog and let me share some of my top picks for Spring, too! If there is anyone that can’t wait to thaw out {as much as those in the South do have to thaw …} it’s me, so I loved looking ahead to this much anticipated season with them. Click over to enter before it’s too late!
If the love hasn’t already started pouring, check out the recipe below and I know you’ll be hooked for sure! I hope you’re loving the Series as much as I am.
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Plum Torte
Family recipes are treasures in our home. They’re a comfort, a memory and a delicious bit of happiness.
While we have so many cherished recipes from both sides of our families we look forward to during the holidays, birthdays and celebrations and those that celebrate our heritage, one favorite rises to the top of our list. This recipe for plum torte brings back memories of being at home with Aleah’s parents on the island. Just saying the island bubbles up memories of laughter and relaxation and waking up to a sunrise over the salty sea with the clouds billowing atop the water.
Bonfires and s’mores are a must and beach walks and long dinners and days spent just enjoying family are commonplace. Aleah’s mom always whips up just incredibly fresh Northwest-style dinners that last for hours and on many occasions those memorable dinners, whether celebratory or just because, are topped off with plum torte baked by Aleah’s dad.
What’s so special is that for visits home we know to expect this plucked-from-the-tree goodness made from scratch. While the recipe comes from a cookbook with dog-eared pages and a tattered cover it’s made from love, and Aleah’s dad has gotten it down to his own science and whips it up from memory. Here is the original recipe from the cook book – it’s the perfect recipe to cook up for springtime holidays and celebrations. We hope it becomes a tradition in your home. Enjoy!
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Be sure to connect with Aleah & Nick at Valley & Co. and over on their fabulous blog too! And, don’t forget to Follow on Twitter and give a Like on Facebook!
Part of our Heirloom Recipe Series, featuring foodies, chefs, artisans, Southerners & fabulous folks willing to share their stories, recipes and photos in an effort to help preserve and share these family recipes for generations to come.
In today’s Heirloom Recipe Series, I am so fortunate to have Amanda Hesser, one half of the dynamic duo behind fabulous foodie site, food52. {note: Merrill joined us yesterday – click to read!} Amanda has an amazing connection with food having grown up in a family surrounded by those who cook, she was recently named one of the “top 50 women game-changers in food” by Gourmet and was awarded a James Beard award for The Essential New York Times Cookbook.
As you must know, I am just thrilled to have Amanda with us today to share a family recipe of her very own, as our Heirloom Recipe Series continues!
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My mother has many specialties, but her Chocolate Dump-It Cake is most beloved in my family. My mother used to do all of her baking late at night, after we were in bed. Around 1 in the morning, the aroma of this cake would begin wafting up to our bedrooms. Then we’d watch her frost it while we ate breakfast. My mother kept this cake in the fridge, and it is sublime even when cold.
Chocolate Dump-It Cake
Serves 10
2 cups sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/4 pound unsalted butter (1 stick), plus more for greasing the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup Nestle’s semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and place a baking sheet on the lowest rack, to catch any drips when the cake bakes. Put the sugar, unsweetened chocolate, butter and 1 cup of water in a saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally until all of the ingredients are melted and blended. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the milk and vinegar. Grease and flour a 9-inch tube pan. (If you prefer, you can grease it, line it with parchment and then grease and flour it. This is not necessary, but parchment does make getting the cake out easier.)
3. When the chocolate in the pan has cooled a bit, whisk in the milk mixture and eggs. In several additions and without overmixing, whisk in the dry ingredients. When the mixture is smooth, add the vanilla and whisk once or twice, to blend. Pour the batter into the tube pan and bake on the middle rack until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack. (This can be tricky – if someone is around, enlist them to help. Place a ring of wax paper on top of the cake so you have something to grab onto when turning it out.) Let cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler, then let cool to room temperature. It is very important that the chocolate and sour cream be the same temperature, otherwise the icing will be lumpy or grainy. (Test it by stirring a little of the sour cream and chocolate together in a bowl; if it mixes smoothly, it’s ready.) Stir in the sour cream, 1/4 cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth. Taste some! It’s good.
5. When the cake is cool, you may frost it as is or cut it in half so that you have two layers (when I do this, I use 2 cups chocolate chips and 2 cups sour cream). My mother uses any leftover icing to make flowers on top. She dabs small rosettes, or buttons, on top, then uses toasted almond slices as the petals, pushing them in around the base of the rosette.
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Be sure to connect with Amanda on Twitter, and with food52 on Twitter and Facebook too!
Part of our Heirloom Recipe Series, featuring foodies, chefs, artisans, Southerners & fabulous folks willing to share their stories, recipes and photos in an effort to help preserve and share these family recipes for generations to come.
there are few things that remind me of the South more than a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. a staple in Southern kitchens for generations, the skillet has been a versatile vessel for sweet to savory dishes alike. i love the beauty of the deep black skillets, especially when well-worn. there is such a rustic and simplistic quality to their art form, allowing the food to truly be the hero.
i remember my mother using our big cast iron skillet for many dishes over the years, but an all-day pot roast with potatoes and carrots is the one that I most recall it being used for. followed by an encore of hash the very next day, of course.
what cast iron skillet recipe or memory is your favorite?
images via : savory sweet life / always with butter / martha stewart / honey & jam
i simply cannot deny the fact that i adore breakfast. from nearly any aspect, any range of food selection and truly at any time of the day. breakfast is truly a meal for champions, as they say.
i had the true and sincere pleasure of experiencing one of the most fun and memorable trips of my lifetime, when my sister and I embarked on a little napa getaway to celebrate her upcoming nuptials a few years ago. we had the time of our lives, nibbling along the way as we tasted & toured the greatest spots in wine country. you may remember the adventure from my heirloom travel post {found here} recapping the highlights of the trip.
our goal was to pop into any place we found on a whim, with little planning or agenda in mind. we did a marvelous job of this accomplishment with just one exception – a little bakery we found in the heart of napa called “sweetie pies bakery.”
once we entered the quaint little bakery and enjoyed our pastries & coffee on the patio, we couldn’t help but go back for another morning indulgence the very next day. it was the perfect start to our days, for several reasons, but what i loved most was the delightful morning buns that we enjoyed. fabulously light and airy, with the perfect coating of cinnamon sugar, these pastries were simply divine!
morning buns are something I’ve never been able to perfect on my own, much unlike most breakfast items I’ve attempted to cook or bake. but regardless of having a handwritten family recipe or a baked-from-scratch adventure of my own, it was these tiny buns and this memory that inspired one of the newest aprons in the IceMilk Aprons collection – Morning Bun Moments.
fondly inspired by the best sister of all time, Courtney, i am so happy to be able to share the final product with you all. each time i say the name or see the apron it brings me back to the fun we had on our trip to california and all the wonderful memories we will share forever.
i am however ready to try my hand at a fresh batch of morning buns of my very own. do you have a recipe to share? a secret to these amazing little pastries? i’d love to know, and i promise, i’ll be sure to share with Courtney too!
Brie is one of my all-time favorite cheeses {what cheese is not though, truly …}
I adore how versatile it is, to be used on a moments whim, able to accomplish both savory and sweet feats with equal ease. On a rustic bread, in a sweet baked puff pastry, or divinely drizzled with honey + figs (I have made it the Sweet Paul way countless times now!). I launched two new apron styles into the IceMilk Aprons “Heritage Collection” this Summer, one of which was inspired by this lovely cheese. I call it beauty in brie.
When decided what to add to the collection, I went back to the small stock of handsewn samples I have from when Grandma was making all of our aprons by hand. I had forgotten we had every played with this colorway and when I came across it I was instantly in love all over again. I am surprised it didn’t make it’s way into the first collection, but for good reason at the time I suppose. The black and oatmeal combination has been a popular one for us to date, and I know the waist apron version will be a welcomed addition that I am so thrilled to add.
The beauty in brie apron was inspired by my Aunt Joanne and her amazing {note: amazing} egg & brie casserole. Since I first had it many years ago, it has grown to become a staple for nearly every brunch I host or attend with a dish in hand. The simplicity and heartiness of the traditional egg casserole, paired with the lavishness of the brie certainly brings about a raised eyebrow or two when you do the big reveal. But I have yet to find someone who doesn’t just adore every bite of this tasty treat.
I have included the original recipe from Aunt Jo below for you to make all your very own. Do note, I personally leave out the sausage as I’m not a pork eater, however I imagine it is simply divine with it in there too. But leaving it out, you surely won’t miss a beat!
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Aunt Joanne’s Brie & Egg Casserole
Ingredients:
- 1 – 8 oz round of brie
- 1 – lb. ground hot pork sausage (check out the sausage from Bradley’s Country Store in Tallahassee!)
- 6 – slices white bread
- 1 – cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 7 – large eggs (divided)
- 3 – cups whipping cream
- 2 – cups fat free milk
- 1 – tsp dried rubbed sage
- 1 – tsp salt
- 1 – tsp dry mustard
Directions:
- Trim & discard the rim on brie, cut into cubes and set aside.
- Cook sausage until crumbled and no longer pink. Drain.
- Place slices of bread evenly in greased 13×9 pan.
- Layer on sausage, brie & grated Parmesan cheese.
- Whisk together 5 eggs, 2 cups whipping cream & next 4 ingredients above.
- Pour mixture evenly over cheeses.
- Cover and chill 8 hours.
- Whisk together remaining 2 eggs and 1 cup whipping cream. Pour evenly over chilled mixture.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until set.
- Serve & enjoy!
: image love: IceMilk Aprons / the chubbette / sweet paul :
In this week’s Heirloom Recipe Series, we are so excited to feature a recipe from the collection of Winnie Abramson. The daughter of a chef and restaurant owner, Winnie’s love of cooking began from an early age. She decided to incorporate her passions for cooking, green living, nutrition and photography to produce the wonderful and informative blog Healthy Green Kitchen. You’ll find everything you need to know from making homemade mozzarella cheese and nutella hazelnut spread to a yummy homemade throat remedy and how to start composting. Oh and it’s super organized and easy to navigate too!
The recipe Winnie shares with you today could not be more interesting, creative and delicious sounding. Here at IceMilk Aprons, we cannot wait to get in the kitchen with this recipe and we have a feeling you’ll feel the same way too!
Enjoy!
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My grandma Bessie was a lot like me: feeding people made her happy. When she died a few years back, I inherited her recipes.
I keep her recipes in a box, and every now and then, I go through the contents piece by piece. Her greatest hits are all here – Jewish favorites like her brisket and her bundt kuchen- these are the recipes that she made often. But there are also many recipes in the box that while written out on cards in her perfect script, weren’t part of her regular rotation (or at least the rotation I knew as a child).
I always wonder about the story behind these recipes. Are they recipes she actually cooked? Or did they simply intrigue her, so she wrote them down and kept them, but never actually got around to making them?
This recipe for Pickled Crab Apples is one of the handwritten recipes in Grandma Bessie’s collection. I honestly have no way of knowing whether or not this is something she ever made. But she saved it for a reason- it meant something to her- and making the recipes she lovingly preserved is how I stay connected to her.
Recipe for Pickled Crab Apples
Makes 3-4 quarts
How this recipe ended up in my grandmother’s collection is a bit of a mystery to me. A bit of internet research tells me that pickled crabapples (also called spiced crabapples) are traditionally made in the South (where she never lived), but I also found reference to the fact that these might have been served at Jewish holiday meals. Note that as is typical for me when I follow pretty much any recipe, I made some changes. You’ll find my adaptations at the bottom of this post.
Ingredients:
*6 pounds crab apples
*5 cups sugar
*1 1/4 cups cider vinegar
*1 stick cinnamon
*a few whole cloves
*1/2 teaspoon cinnamon drop candy
Directions:
1. Wash apples. Do not remove stems.
2. Bring sugar, vinegar, cinnamon stick and cloves to a quick boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add cinnamon drops.
3. Add crab apples and cook over moderate heat for an hour- 75 minutes until apples are tender.
4. Lift apples with slotted spoon into jars.
5. Cook syrup 10 minutes after filling jars with fruit. Pour syrup over apples in jar and seal.
I halved the recipe and because I didn’t have access to crab apples, I substituted the smallest, crunchiest apples I could find, and I cored and sliced them. I used organic brown sugar instead of white sugar, omitted the cinnamon candy and added an extra cinnamon stick. The result was a chunky applesauce heavy on the spice and tang, and really quite delicious.
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Be sure to connect with Winnie on Twitter, Facebook, on her Healthy Green Living blog, and take a peek at her gorgeous food styling & photography talents online here.
Part of our Heirloom Recipe Series, featuring foodies, chefs, artisans, Southerners & fabulous folks willing to share their stories, recipes and photos in an effort to help preserve and share these family recipes for generations to come.
Our wonderfully southern friend Ms. Lisa Porter joins us here this week for the Heirloom Recipes Series and I couldn’t be more happy to have her. Lisa has a delightful blog – The Lisa Porter Collection – that is filled to the brim with inspiration, beautiful things and creativity galore. I love scrolling thru her photos and writings as the bring about happy times. And her profile photo on Twitter will prove to anyone in doubt that she simply is the purest of Kentucky gals, oh how I adore the proper nature of hats!
I was delighted that Lisa agreed to join us here this week and know her & her family enjoyed a walk down memory lane while compiling this delicious post for you. She has been truly gracious to IceMilk Aprons over on her blog and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have her here to share with y’all. Enjoy!
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Heirloom Recipe Series with Lisa Porter.
Just think how remarkable it is that you can mix together flour, butter, sugar, and an egg, and make a memory that will last a lifetime!
Ever since I was a little girl, I have always had memories of cooking with my mother. Even now, preparing food together is a way for us to connect with each other and with the other wonderful cooks in our family. When I was very young, these values were subconsciously learned and absorbed day after day standing on a chair next to her at the kitchen counter. I was a curious one, carefully watching, and always asking why. I was not just learning how to cook, I was being with my mom and we were playing house!
When I was a teen returning home from high school, I would make my way across the courtyard between our house and the garage, through the French doors that led straight to the kitchen. Mom was always home when I arrived. Not in an apron with flour on her face, instead she was usually in her tennis skirt and sun visor and was contemplating whipping up something new from her favorite Junior League Cookbook!
Yes our schedules had changed but one thing remained the same, time together in the kitchen, Setting the table and lighting the candles was my job. Still playing house, and no we weren’t formal; we just had an antique chandelier from Mexico that she loved to light for dinner. That was the 70’s and Julia Child and Erma Bombeck had the final word!
These days, we still love to gather in the kitchen. It’s the heart the home and the food prepared there nourishes us both physically and emotionally. Food cures and consoles and fills a home with an aroma of warmth and love. Every time life get’s to complicated, I pull my family back to the dinner table, and we all end up happier at the end of the day.
In my kitchen, I have a bookcase full of cookbooks. Remember, I used to work for Chuck Williams. But honestly, I love to cook, my husband loves to cook, my daughter loves to cook, and my son, well, he is a growing boy and just loves to eat.
We all have our specialties but in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we seem to have let something far more important slip away, making memories by lovingly preparing and sharing old family recipes handed down through generations.
This all goes back to what I mentioned earlier, making memories, making food memories that remind us of a special person, place and time. When I started writing The Lisa Porter Collection two years ago, I knew that cooking and entertaining were topics that I wanted to discuss. When I discovered Ashley and Ice Milk Aprons, I was thrilled to find this adorable, energetic, entrepreneurial young woman who decided that if we were going to be cooking and entertaining in the kitchen we certainly deserved to look fresh, crisp, and stylish!
I love how Ashley also believes in keeping all of our food memories alive. She is inspiring whole new generations to find pleasure in preparing food that was lovingly prepared by generations before us. She inspired me to look past my newest cookbooks and unearth what I like to call my golden oldies. Handwritten recipes on stained index cards that remind me that caring hands were at work.
These handwritten recipes not only remind me of my southern heritage, they have given me the greatest way to teach my children that a home cooked meal shared with family and friends is truly what makes life rich!
I was thrilled when Ashley invited me to share two of my favorite homemade recipes here at Preserves! Four generations of my family have been making these traditional southern desserts. I hope you will enjoy them too!
The first recipe is for Apricot Cake.
This recipe was handwritten by my mother, and me, for her Aunt Elouise Stinson.This was Aunt Elouise’s favorite Apricot Cake from the Lubbock Women’s Club Cookbook in Lubbock, Texas. 
She had it every year on her birthday. She made me my first Apricot Cake for my 2nd birthday. Growing up, it became my favorite too!
I was always very curious about Aunt Elouise. I remember sitting at her art deco dressing table and running my fingers across her hand cut crystal perfume bottles and monogrammed ivory brushes. She loved red lipstick, good jewelry, Tennessee Walkers, fur coats, and apricot cake! I loved her dearly.
This next recipe is for Brownies-beat by hand and was handwritten especially for me by my Aunt Martha Lee McCaleb shortly before I left for college.
She always said that using fresh ingredients and a little elbow grease was what made homemade the best! How did she ever find the time?
Aunt Martha Lee raised a set of twin boys plus one more making for three rambunctious sons. Here we all are in 1962, admiring a new litter of puppies in Granny’s front yard. Aunt Martha Lee in her stylish red & pink shift, Granny, Uncle Charles, the boys, and me on my mother’s knee.
Aunt Martha Lee was always so busy in the kitchen. She was usually whipping up creamed tuna on toast and chicken pot pies. All for those hungry boys! I always waited till the coast was clear, then I would grab a kitchen chair and push it right up next to her at the counter. It was time to make brownies. Little did I know we were making memories. Thank you Aunt Martha Lee. I love you.
Thank you again Ashley for inviting me to Preserves and including me in your Heirloom Recipes Series! I so appreciate you allowing me to share my two favorite deserts and go on about the amazing women for whom they are named. They taught me long ago that made from scratch means made with love and that the effort that goes into a homemade desert is always rewarded by the pleasure it brings.
xo Lisa
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Please do connect with Lisa over on her lovely blog, The Lisa Porter Collection or on Twitter @LisaPorterColle!
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Part of our Heirloom Recipes Series, featuring foodies, chefs, artisans, Southerners & fabulous folks willing to share their stories, recipes and photos in an effort to help preserve and share these family recipes for generations to come.
I am so happy to have Twitter friend, and now real life friend, Katherine Strate here with us for this week’s Heirloom Recipe Series! Katherine attending the fine University of Georgia and had a popular blog in school appropriately coined “Dawg Food” so she is no stranger to food, blogs, or lovely historic towns. Having similar foodie-like callings, we became fast friends and enjoyed a rustic meal over at my hometown favorite, as you well know by now, Bakeshop. I love sharing this delicious and special recipe below from Katherine this week, as we just had a conversation in our own family over the holidays about Chess Pie so the timing was impeccable! Do enjoy Katherine, and her grandmothers beautiful recipe.
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Heirloom Recipe Series with Katherine Strate.
The first pie my grandmother ever taught me to make was Chess Pie.
Gooey, delicious, and made with the ingredients even a basic cook would have in her pantry, this is the perfect, unique pie to take to a friend’s house—and not come home with leftovers.
I remember first being introduced to the pie one summer when I wanted to make some extra money by selling baked goods. Addie suggested I make Chess Pie because it’s easy and a guaranteed favorite. At the time, I didn’t remember having eaten Chess Pie before, but I remember taking a bite of the pie we made together in the kitchen of the house where my dad grew up. It was warm, soft, sweet and so decadent I thought, “there has to be a secret ingredient.”
Turns out, my secret ingredient was Addie. As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned about some sugar and spice in her life that have molded her into the strong, stoic, poised, loving woman she is today.
One of the most defining ingredients of my grandmother’s life is her experience as a student at Ward-Belmont Girls School and later at Vanderbilt University. In the 1940s, it was rare for women to go to college, especially a girl from the country. Addie attended Ward-Belmont (to which she still travels for reunions with her schoolmates) and then graduated from Vanderbilt with a business degree.
I guess I always took her education for granted until a friend said to me, “Katherine. Do you know how unique your grandmother is? Women in the 40s got home-ec. degrees, not business. Addie is amazing.”
And she is. That woman can do everything. She later helped my grandfather start the family insurance business, keeping the books and being the general office manager.
But she never let her cooking and entertaining skills get rusty. If there’s anything Addie is known for, it’s her knack for hostessing and making guests and company feel like they are at home. She’s “one of those” cooks that just needs the ingredients to a recipe, or nothing else. Sometimes, I’ve asked her for a specific recipe, and she just sends me the ingredients. I then have to call her and say, “OK, Addie. I have my grocery list, but what do I do with the ingredients once I have them?” I hope to be as good a cook as her one day…and as good a hostess.
Just this past Labor Day, Addie had our extended family (about 16 people) over for brunch. When I stopped by her house the Friday before, she already had the table set three days in advance. Granted, she moves a little slower these days, but the table was set with her good silver and a cute centerpiece she created. How amazing is she?
Without fail, everything Addie cooks is incredible, which is why I was so surprised Chess Pie is easy to make. To be honest, you do have to watch and make sure you don’t cook the egg yolks too fast, “otherwise you’ll have egg yolk pie,” as Addie says. But you just have to pay attention.
Here’s her recipe I wrote on a recipe card, and placed it on the apron she made for me (kind of my own version of IceMilk Aprons).
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Addie’s Chess Pie
Ingredients
3 eggs
1 ½ c. sugar
1 stick butter
1 T. vinegar
1 t. vanilla
Directions
Beat eggs well (very, very important!). Add sugar. Chop up butter into mixture. Add vinegar and vanilla. Place in double boiler and allow butter to melt stirring constantly.
Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes, then increase oven to 350 and bake 25 minutes longer.
I hope you’ll try making Chess Pie. My secret ingredient is my grandmother, but maybe you have a different one. I’d love to hear how it turns out.
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Be sure to connect with Katherine on Twitter at { @KatLady }
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Part of our Heirloom Recipes Series, featuring foodies, chefs, artisans, Southerners & fabulous folks willing to share their stories, recipes and photos in an effort to help preserve and share these family recipes for generations to come.
icemilkaprons.wordpress.com 