Mama's Egg Custard Pie

Bradford Pear by frances robson

Good morning all and come on in the house for a cup of coffee. I am slowly getting started today and have lots on my "to do" list and as I sit here and look at the windows in the sun room I need to add washing windows to my list. However, with all the pollen falling and the dust from the plowing around us, think I will wait awhile.

The picture above shows our 2 Bradford pear trees but I wish you could see our town of Adel, GA . There are hundreds of these trees in all their splendor lining streets, driveways, and in yards all around the town. It looks like we are dressed for a wedding. I am going to try to get some pictures tomorrow to show you for it is magical.

I was looking through my first recipe notebook and found Mama's egg custard recipe and think I will bake one today for it is simple, delicious and a great comfort food. When we were growing up out in the country of Wilcox County Alabama, we had our own chickens and milk cow which provided abundantly. About once a week, when the eggs were piling up and we had too much milk, mama would make an egg custard. Sometimes she would bake it without the crust and that is good also. I have seen other recipes for this with other ingredients but to me, this plain, good, old fashioned recipe is still the best. The only thing I would add would be fresh whipped cream if you have company and want to impress somebody but I don't feel the need to impress anyone so I would serve it plain. I know I have posted this earlier, but it bears repeating.

Make one today and give your family a treat.

Mama's Egg Custard
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together eggs and sugar. Pour milk into a small saucepan and place over low heat until warm. Pour milk over egg mixture slowly, whisking constantly. Sprinke with freshly grated nutmeg, then pour into pie shell.
Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cook 20 minutes longer, or until custard is just set. Serve warm or chilled.
To keep the crust from browning too much, place foil strips over the crust before baking. I have taken a foil pie plate and cut the center out of it and invert this over the pie to be baked to keep it from browning too quickly. Works great.

Yesterday we went to our favorite theater for a live performance and as usual we were amused. We had to visit the nearby Sam's Club for a few (?) items. I never go in there and buy only what's on my list but that's Ok for I am woman, I can change my mind.

While there I saw the show - the shoppers - in all their eccentricities parade around the aisles giving their performances. The one which caught my eye is what I call "The New Daddy". There was a young man, with scruffy beard, shorts and flip flops giving his baby son his bottle. How sweet and thoughtful of him, I thought and then I realized he had brought this deed into the 21st century by adding a few props.

As he bent over the baby carriage, he had the bottle in one hand stuck in the baby's mouth, his cell phone in the other hand, and texting while he fed the baby. How exciting to see this daddy multi-tasking. Not many men can take care of a baby, text, and look so cool while doing it.

My next thought was, maybe not so cool. We have allowed our electronic mind grabbers take away some of our sweetest joys in this world. Holding that sweet baby in his arms, holding the bottle in one hand, talking to his son, and giving him all the love a daddy has would be absolutely the most rewarding minutes in that dad's life. His son loves to hear his voice and feel the security of his arms holding him and I just can't believe any text message is more important than that. Wake up daddies!

Then there were the usual senior citizens in their bizarre outfits strolling slowly, 2 by 2 down the aisles, getting in my way. I am a senior citizen, or old lady, but I can move rather quickly with a shopping cart and get a little irritated at those who could move faster but don't. It may be those black socks with the deck shoes, shorts and Hawaiian print shirts that is slowing them down or those women in their house shoes. Old folks, look in the mirror before you perform for us in public and observe how to look chic even though old. Give the rest of us a break.

That's about it for today and try the egg custard for it is good and so easy to make. Now ya'll come back to see me and my next posting is going to be a couple of biscuit recipes I found in my old cookbook.

Be careful going home for it will be raining soon.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach

Summertime Foods

First Cookbook by Frances Robson

Good evening. Ya'll come on into the 'Net Porch and a sit a spell with me. I had a great day today helping with our kids at the church this morning. Our wonderful minister of music, Mr. Chad, has Terrific Tuesdays each summer and the kids learn a musical to present to our church. I am privileged this summer to be able to help with the snack time and have the blessing of interacting with about 40 kids. They are so much fun and I am looking forward to them singing for us.

We had a great supper tonight and I wish you could have been here with us. We had a Georgia produce night with some chicken breast I had grilled on Saturday, fresh, Georgia squash, butterbeans, corn on the cob, cantaloupe, and watermelon. It was so fresh and good and we totally enjoyed it. The only thing missing was cornbread and I just forgot to make it. Now I wish I had made Cornmeal Pancakes like mama used to make.

I found mama's recipe for this in my first cookbook where mama had given me the recipe, I wrote it down then typed it on a typewriter. The original card is yellowed and stained but still quite legible. We would have this kind of cornbread a lot in the summer so we didn't have to use the oven and heat up the kitchen.

Remember this was back in the olden days when we didn't have air conditioners just a great big window fan. If you baked anything, you had to do it early in the morning before it got too hot and everybody knows cornbread is best when hot. Because we had fresh vegetables every day in the summer mama would cook it on top of the stove in a big, cast iron frying pan and we loved it. We would eat it with syrup for dessert after the main meal. Our children also liked it and so I thought I would share it with you.

Corn Meal Pancakes
(Griddle Cakes)

2/3 cup yellow corn meal
2/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1 ½ cups milk
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil (bacon grease if you have it)

Stir together corn meal, flour, salt and baking powder. Combine egg, milk and oil; add to dry mixture and stir until smooth. Bake pancakes on a hot, well-greased griddle using a scant ¼ cup batter for each cake. Stir batter several times while cooking to keep it well mixed. Makes 12

These are good hot or cold. Spread a little jelly on them and you have dessert.

I also found mama's egg custard recipe. We had our own chickens who gave us lots of fresh eggs and often we had more than we knew what to do with so mama would make egg custard. This is a very simple recipe and a simple pie but is good. Often mama would bake it without a crust or add coconut before baking. It was one of daddy's favorite pies and we enjoyed it also. Knowing you would enjoy it, I found it in my old, first cookbook and here it is.

Old Fashion Egg Custard

3 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. butter (not margarine)

Combine milk and butter in middle-sized pan on medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let it cool slightly. Beat eggs and sugar together. Add the milk and butter to eggs and sugar, mix and pour into pie shell. Sift nutmeg on top of pie. Bake at 325 degrees until set and slightly brown on top.

These are 2 recipes we grew up eating and enjoying and mama said they were our grandmother and great-grandmother's recipes also. I can remember eating both of these when we would visit our grandparents. They are just good, old-fashioned recipes which are simple, easy and delicious. Enjoy.

Ya'll be careful going home and come back to see me for it has been raining and the roads are little slick. It has rained every day this week and we are beginning to think we are in the rainy season. Take care.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach

My First Cook Book

Good evening. Ya'll come on in and have a cup of coffee with us. It's a little cool today and quite different from yesterday when I was sweating. I put on my shorts, tank top and flip flops this morning and was fine until I went outside to hang up clothes. Whoa, that wind is a little cool. In the sun and out of the wind it is great but the wind is really cool.

I have 6 big tomato plants to put out but now I have to wait until it warms up. They do not like cool weather and will just sit there so I think they will be happier on the patio in the sun. The patio is sheltered and the cement reflects the heat and they will be quite happy until later next week. Tomatoes are a necessity for me for I love tomato sandwiches, sliced tomatoes, diced or just eaten like an apple. They are best right out of the garden, still warm and juice running down your arm while you are eating it. These store-bought ones are used only when absolutely necessary.

The picture at the top of the page is my first cookbook and was a gift from a dear, family, friend, Miss Tess Newell. We spent many hours in her home where she lived with her mother, sister (Miss Leacy), and brother (Mr. Mac). Their home was way down in Coy, the lower part of Wilcox County, AL and Mr. Mac was a master farmer and close friend of our daddy. Miss Tess was the "bestest" cook in the county and she always had a cake, pies, cookies, and candy ready when we visited. When she cooked a meal it meant meat, bread, vegetables and dessert and lots of it. There would be homemade pickles, relishes and jelly to go with the hot biscuits. This sweet lady knew how to put out a spread. She knew I loved to cook and gave me this book to begin my own collection of recipes and many are hers.

We ate lots of good meals at the Newell's home down in Coy and it was interesting that the kitchen and dining room was connected to the back of the house by a porch. It stemmed from early years when cooking was done on a wood stove and if a fire broke out the whole house would not burn. They had an electric stove by the time we began visiting but the house was still basically like it was when built. We loved to visit this family and always had a wonderful time. That porch would be cool in the summer but you ran in the winter to get out of the cold for the wind would whistle right through there.

The book is a notebook with heavy card stock pages and the dividers have pockets where you can store clipped recipes until you try them out and decide if the are a "keeper." I began to write down mama's special recipes, some of Miss Tess' and Miss Leacy's and clipped new ones from Better Homes and Garden, Farm Journal, Progressive Farmer and McCall's. These were the ones mama always subscribed to and I still have some of the clipped recipes in the pockets.

I began with some of my favorite recipes from mama and I thought you might enjoy them also so I will share with you. These are still some of our favorite recipes and are really good.

CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP (mama's handwritten recipe)

1/stick oleo - old fashioned name for margarine but I like to use butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. soda (my grandmother Polk always said "sody")
1 tsp. sugar
2 cups tomato juice (Mama used a pint of her juice she canned or a pint of tomatoes she would chop finely plus the juice from the jar)
1/4 cup catsup
1/cup cream or whole milk (ours would have been milk from our cow)
salt and pepper to taste
Melt oleo and blend in the flour until smooth, add tomato juice, continue stirring. Add salt, sugar and soda and cook until it almost boils then add catsup and cream and simmer until thoroughly hot.
Serves 4
She usually served this with toasted cheese sandwiches or hot biscuits, and lots of good, cold milk. Use medium heat and stir to keep the milk from scorching.

I made this one time for our children when they were about 10 and 6 for they loved the canned soup from A&P and Robby asked if I could open him a can of "real" soup. Deflated my ego for I was so proud I had made it from scratch. So from then on I just opened a can.

A pie recipe that mama made most every week was "Egg Custard" pie. We had lots of eggs and milk from our own chickens and cow and they had to be used in some way. Mama would make a pie crust and put this custard in it or bake it without the crust. It just depended on how busy she was. Sometimes she would put coconut in it for daddy loved coconut but we also liked it just plain. With all 5 of us at home that pie lasted 1 meal so she usually doubled the recipe so we would have one for snacking later or for supper.

EGG CUSTARD PIE

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. butter
can add coconut if you like before pouring into pie shell and I have no idea how much but guessing about 3/4 cup.
(These are mama's instructions just like she gave them to me)
Put milk and butter on, let come to a boil. Beat eggs and sugar together. Mix all the ingredients and pour into pie shell. Sift nutmeg on top of pie. Bake at 325 degrees until done.
I am including these instructions so you won't have to interpret for I know exactly what she meant.
Beat the eggs and sugar together in small bowl. Put milk and butter in saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring gently to keep milk from scorching until it reaches a slow boil. Remove from heat, pour a little into the egg mixture to temper the eggs, add remainder of the eggs and sugar to milk mixture, mix well and pour into pie shell. Sprinkle with nutmeg and bake until set and slightly brown on top.

If you need a pie crust recipe I have one in one of my older posts and it is so easy to make so why buy a pie shell unless you are in a tearing hurry.

This cookbook has lots of history in it and along with mama's and Miss Tess' recipes I have some from Miss Leacy Newell who was my Home Ec teacher" and Miss Tess' sister. "Miss Leacy" taught me home ec, was our FFA sponsor, and was a dear friend.

Every now and then I get it out and use some of the old recipe that mama, grandmother and I used to cook and they are still good, simple, delicious recipes. I hope you will enjoy the 2 I have shared and I will share others later on. Mama baked 2 really good pound cakes and I will include those soon.

Now ya'll come back to see us soon and I will try to have a pound cake to go with the coffee next time. It was great talking to ya'll and be careful going home and hurry back.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach