Thursday, March 27, 2014

Lemon Pie With History



One of my favorite cookbooks is the one I bought from the Current Catalog back in July of 1983.  It was a blank book.  The page format that I use - Recipe from, date I got it, recipe, serves.  If there is room sometimes I have added the back story.

I decided I would share the story of the Lemon Pie Recipe.  During the summer of 1998 I attended a Bead Society Potluck and ate a wonderful slice of lemon pie (pre gluten free life).
Ruth Clancy, a lady in her late 70's, was the pie maker.

I expressed my delight with the pie and she graciously shared the recipe and story.  She had gotten it in 1945 from an elderly lady who had had it for at least 50 years.  

Lemon Pie

1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cup boiling water
3 Tablespoons butter
6 Tablespoons cornstarch
3 egg yokes 
4 Tablespoons lemon juice (squeeze real lemons)

Mix cornstarch and sugar together, stir in water and yokes.  

Over direct heat in cast iron skillet cook until thickens.  Add zest of lemon.  Pour into baked pie crust.

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I have often thought that this is a lemon pie recipe with history.  I always smile when I come to the part of the cast iron skillet.  I still cook with my Mom's cast iron skillet, the one she bought in the 1940's.




6 comments:

  1. This is a great history. I use to get Current stationery all the time. I have my grandmother's cast iron skillet and love using it.

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  2. I think there are so many stories connected to our families and cooking.

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  3. This sounds like an easy and delicious recipe. I am a big fan of lemon anything. The fact that it comes with a history makes it all the better.

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  4. I have forgotten about the Current catalog, wow, that takes me back. What a beautiful way to collect recipes & what a wonderful story to go with. I still cook with a couple of cast iron skillets too, but the rest have been shared with my 2 adult kids. We all swear by them! Thanks for the recipe-I love lemon pie!

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  5. I saw the photograph and my heart melted - it was he very same cookbook that my mother - in-law gave my husband when he went off to Law School. She filled it with family recipes, in her own handwriting. We use it all the time, and think of her, and her love of creating fellowship around the table. And we remember her. Thanks for awakening the memory, Ruth.

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  6. A few years ago I made copies of some of my recipes, some of the recipes I had that were my mother's, my sister had some different recipes of Mom's. My sister-in-law shared some of her Mother's recipes. I added some recipe's that had belonged to Dan's children's mother. I then printed out a set for each family so they would have the recipes and who they were from.

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