My mom Pat was a pretty amazing cook. I really did not know how great she was until I left home. Whether it was cooking meatballs from scratch or homemade chicken and noodles, the food was amazing. Once we had a foreign exchange student stay with us on a cross country trek back to NYC, where, he and 800 students would return to Europe after a year in the USA. His name was Tony and he was from Milan. My mom dared to make her homemade spaghetti and meatballs and soda cracker peach pie for his goodbye dinner. “Mrs. Pumphrey I can honestly say this was the best meal I have had in the US this year. Your spaghetti and meatballs could have come out of my grandma’s kitchen, and that pie should be illegal”.
Let me tell you about soda cracker peach pie. First, it requires Palisade peaches which are only available for about six weeks in late summer. I suppose you could use any other peach but they have NO equal. What I remember next is that the crust is made out of crushed nuts and soda crackers with some kind of egg meringue thing whipped in. The crust is baked and after cooling, finely sliced peach slices are layered in. Then that concoction is covered generously with whipped cream and placed in the refrigerator overnight.
Mom made two pies, or three if she was going to show off at a church potluck. There were six of us in the family and so each of us got two pieces.The rules were clear. There were some things you could sort of help yourself to in our home. This pie was not one of them. My dad was the enforcer. To this day it is my favorite pie in the whole world and I love pie.
You might ask, “Mark the vegan, so where do you get such a pie now.”? I would say my wonderful daughter Amy Marie has taken over the art of pie making. On rare occasions I will jettison the vegan lines for a taste of sin. This pie will bring me to enemy territory. Amy does her best, except for the egg whites—oh well. Last week she made me my own pie for my birthday. Mary Kay was happy to help me eat it. I tried to act like I did not care. I am usually pretty good at sharing but this was almost too much. But Mary Kay cooks some mighty fine meals herself so I guess sharing is not too much to ask.
I was over at Amy’s house today where she was sitting in the backyard with her neighbor Brian. Amy has bought a shed kit from Costco, Lest anyone think that to the ‘build your own shed’ and follow the instructions makes this an easy task you’re mistaken. In her Tom Sawyer—like way, she has recruited friends to help her build it. After three weeks its not quite finished. It almost like giving young Mark a model building kit (I always ended up with extra pieces). Brian was one of the lucky ones. I found out he got paid in the famous peach pie. “I don’t like pie particularly but that pie is beyond amazing”. Eat your hearts out you who have not tasted of Patty P’s hand—me—down recipe form Heaven.
Onward and Upward,
Mark
Lyfting Me Up 