Thanksgiving wreathe is hung on the front door and the kitchen is bustling with activities! And, you are going to kiss my toes. Yes, you are, because I’m going to part with a family recipe. Yes, I am. Grandma’s Chess Pie. A scant few of you will know about Chess pie, and I’m wagering those few readers will be Southerners. Grandma is not with us as you know, so I’m not going to ever know where and when she started making chess pie, but it’s a family tradition and today I’m passing her recipe along to all of you. Why not? [“There are no secrets,” my friend Suzette told me once in the woods of Sonoma County many many years ago. What ensued was an epiphany, upon which I could not fully elaborate, but trust me and ponder at your leisure.] What is wonderful about chess pie is not only how delicious it is, but also how easy it is. And I think in the face of the overwhelming culinary expectations that have been built into this particular holiday it’s very very handy to have an easy recipe to rely on. (We need all the breaks we can get, right?) So here goes.

Gram’s Chess Pie

Make a single pie crust and put in a pie pan and bake it for about ten minutes max. in a 425 F. oven.
You can cheat and buy a crust at Trader Joe’s or whatever, but be sure to partially bake.

In a medium sized saucepan cream 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter.
Turn on low heat and begin adding the following:

4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon of white flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup nutmeats (That’s what Grandma said. Nutmeats. Quaint, right? I use pecans.)
1 cup raisins (I use currents. More fun.)
1 teaspoon vanilla (Puleeze only use the real thing.)

You’re almost done. Really.

Heat it up over low heat, stirring until it thickens. It will thicken. It’s magic! It does not take long.

Beat the egg whites. Fold them into the above mixture in that same saucepan. (See why it can’t be a small saucepan??)

Pour into the partially baked pie shell. It will look like this.

Then put in a 350 F. oven for half an hour. Nicely browned, it will now look like this.

I particularly love how good this pie smells! Enjoy, dear readers! I hope this serves those of you who were still wrestling with what to make for dessert tomorrow!

I know how incredibly busy you are today and tomorrow and I barely know how you found time to read any blogs (and am honored) so I am going to simply offer you a very special blessing that Antonia always said before eating our meals when she was a little girl. When we lived in Holland she said it in Dutch. When we came back to the States she said it in English. Here it is in English.

Dear Earth who gave to us this food,
Dear Sun who made it ripe and good,
Dear Earth, dear Sun by you we live,
Our loving thanks to you we give.

St Francis

From our house to yours–Happy Thanksgiving!

Love and blessings, and deep gratitude for all your kindnesses, seen and unseen.
Kathryn xoxo

Posted on November 26th, 2008 by Kathryn
Filed under: People at Life