Guest post: Black Bottom Pie

Thanks to my wonderful friend Katie, here is a fabulous recipe for what has to be one of the most delicious pies ever! Her heritage story of this recipe is truly sweet.

I have grown up in the shadow of amazing cooks my entire life.  My grandmother was legendary, my mother was renowned throughout the neighborhood for her baked goods, and my aunts were admired for their recipes at each potluck and social occasion.

Growing up under this burden, I was always intimidated to try my hand in the kitchen - especially when it came to baking.  It wasn't until I moved into my first apartment in college that I started to enjoy experimenting with different spices, inventing new flavors of baked goods, and hunting down my family's favorite recipes.

In the past few years, my grandmother has had to stop cooking because of various health issues, but she has been generous in passing along family treasures - in the form of stories and recipes.  One of my favorites she has shared is her mother's (my great-grandmother's) recipe for "Black Bottom Pie" - practically a staple in the deep southern heart of Mississippi where my maternal family hails from.  The stories she shares while eating this treat are some of my personal favorites.

My grandmother shared both the typed version from her mother, and a re-written version courtesy of my aunt (who was responsible for the crayon scribbles on the original version at a young age).  I share them now with you to enjoy and savor.  I wish you a tasty dessert and plenty of fun stories to go along.

Black Bottom Pie

From Forrest Milam Bowen (my great-grandmother)

Pie Crust:

18-20 graham crackers rolled to fine crumbs, mixed wel with 5-6 Tablespoons of melted butter

Line a 9" pie plate with this and pat out like a pastry

Bake for 10 minutes at 300 degrees

Filling:

Soak 1 envelope of gelatin in 4 Tablespoons of water

Take 1/2 cup sugar, 2 heaping Tablespoons of flour and mix

Beat in 4 egg yolks and add 1 3/4 cups scaled sweet milk (regular milk is fine)

Cook over slow heat, stirring constantly until thick

Add gelatin and stir thoroughly

At the same time, slowly melt 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate

Pour a little over half of the custard over the melted chocolate

Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla to chocolate mixture

Pour into the pastry and let cool

Make a stiff meringue of 4 egg whites, 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar, and 1/2 cup sugar

Beat stiff and add to the remaining custard mixture while still smooth and soft

Pour this into the pie and chill about 30 minutes

Take 1 cup of cream, whip, and add 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Spread over the top of the pie

Grate semi-sweet chocolate over the top and set in fridge until cool.

ENJOY!

DIY Shelving

To all of you 3P readers out there, meet my friend Katie!  She was so kind to share some awesome shelving she made for some of her linens, and I am honored to have her write the very first guest post for my blog!  Keep reading to find out how Katie made some cool DIY shelves to keep her linens neat and orderly.

I am a huge fan of this blog!  I am simultaneously inspired to take on my own projects and jealous at the organization level found here.  I just moved into my first house a few months ago and have found myself referring often to the various organization methods.  One challenge that I continue to face, however, is the matter of my placements, napkins and tablecloths.

But first, a confession: I hate ironing.  I avoid it all costs.  I will literally wait by the dryer to pull out clothes so I don’t have to iron them.

Since I refuse to bring out the ironing board and boot up that silly iron, keeping my placemats and napkins smooth and wrinkle free is a big deal to me.  Also, just stacking them on top of each other is annoying – what if I need the set that’s on the very bottom!?

I have looked for MONTHS to find a suitable shelving unit that could hold my table items without my needing to fold them.  I found shelves where I would need to fold my tablecloths, I found draws that would only hold napkins, I found a shelving unit that only had two shelves of the size I needed… I even found the PERFECT item that holds placemats and napkins – but it wasn’t for sale.  Thanks for nothing, Crate and Barrel:

(My brother suggested I put a price tag from another item in the store on this and attempt for pay for it.)

With many hours of searching behind me, I finally realized I would need to build my own.  It was fun and took about 90 minutes, so feel free to make your own!

1.     For about $30 each I purchased three large pieces of acrylic board from Home Depot.  I measured my largest placemat and added two inches on each side, and drew lines for these measurements onto the acrylic (22” x 16” in my case).  Using a Dremmel tool (thanks Dad!), I cut 12 boards.

2.     I enlisted my brother to sand the cut edges a bit to smooth things up.

3.     I took corks I had saved from my many nights of wine consumption and glued three together for stability.  To add a bit more height and stability, I cut several corks in half and glued the halves on top.

4.     I then placed these sets of three around the corners and sides of the bottom board.  I glued these down and then glued a second board on top.

5.     I continued this way until I ran out of corks.  I hope to make two sets of 5 shelves each (6 acrylic boards for each, which means I need to keep drinking wine).  Note: you’ll want to put corks or something else of the same height at the front opening while everything dries and sets up.

6.     Voila! Instant shelves that perfectly fit my table accessories, keeping them flat (no ironing!), separated and organized.

Great work, Katie!!

Leave a comment today and let us know how you liked Katie's guest post on her DIY project!