Remembering her in a pie

My grandmother's recipe for Japanese pie, written in her handwriting.
(All photos by Kathryn Powell)

One of my favorite things in the world is getting to cook with my grandfather. We cook all kinds of things, and every dish carries memories with it that have come from years of visits to his house for holidays. One of my first and fondest memories made in my grandfather's kitchen is one of learning how to make my grandmother's Japanese pie. The recipe itself is quite simple, but the taste is rich and very memorable.

The odd name of 'Japanese pie' actually has nothing to with Japan or Japanese culture, it is just what my grandmother named the pie and the name stuck so that is what we call it today. 

This pie is my grandmother's pie. It is her recipe, and every time I bake it I think of the grandmother I never met, the one who died before I was born. I wonder what she was like, and if I am similar to her in anyway.

When I make this pie I feel as if I am carrying on some tradition that was never officially begun, I feel as if I am remembering a grandmother I never knew. I feel happy inside whenever I am able to make this pie for my family, and when they say "It tastes just like mom used to make it!" It makes me happy to help bring back those good memories through this pie. I hope to create new memories for others with this pie. I want this to become my pie, and I want people to remember me for this pie just as they remembered my grandmother.

So I guess, in reality, this pie doesn't carry my memories of my grandmother, but others' memories of her. What I remember every time I eat this pie are the times in the kitchen with my grandfather, the times with family dinners with all of us together at the table in my grandfather's house, and the memories of my grandmother that have been shared with me over a spoonful of Japanese pie.

Grandma Powell's Japanese Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vinegar 

1.  Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt the butter in the microwave, then let the melted butter cool. This step sounds kind of weird, why would you heat the butter only to cool it down? It's so that the hot butter doesn't cook the eggs when you mix them together. This is not a scrambled egg pie, so trust me, cool the butter.

2. Mix the butter together with all the other ingredients in a mixing bowl.

 

3. Place an unbaked pie crust in a pie pan, and crimp the edges if you wish. I used a pre-made pie crust, but if you would like you can make your own crust and it will work just fine. Here is one way to crimp the edges of the crust, place your thumb on the edge and then take two fingers and press the dough lightly around the thumb. Don't press too hard or the crust will get too thin and won't hold the shape of the crimp. If at first you don't succeed, flatten it out and try, try again.

4. Pour the mixture into the unbaked pie crust. Bake for 40 minutes. The pie should look golden on the top, and the crust should be golden on the edges. The pie is best served warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

One thing I like about this pie is that it is very rich, and is full of different flavors and textures. The coconut and the pecan add some crunch to it, and the raisins and sugar make the pie very sweet.

How the wizard of Oz made a cake

Photo credit: Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco 

When I was a child, my sister, my mother and I would read tons of books together. One of our favorite books to read was Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco.

My sister and I had always been scared of thunderstorms after seeing The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy had been flown to Oz by one. Thunder is so much scarier when you think it is going to blow your house away. To distract us, my mother would call us into the kitchen to bake a Thunder Cake. We would have a blast in the kitchen while outside it could be pouring rain and thundering like crazy, but my sister and I wouldn't notice.

We had more important things to be doing than being scared of thunder -- baking chocolate cake took much concentration.


Thunder Cake

(adapted from the recipe in Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco)

All photos by Kathryn Powell

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 cup cold water
• 1/3 cup pureed tomatoes
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 cup dry cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. First, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, cream together the shortening and the sugar. I did this with a mixer, and it took about a minute. It should look something like this when it is completely creamed together.  It is ok if the mixture is a bit clumpy, as long as the sugar is completely combined with the shortening.

2. Mix in the vanilla and the egg yolks. 

3. Place the egg whites in a separate bowl and, using a mixer, whip the egg whites on the highest setting until they are stiff. This will take about three minutes. The egg whites should look like puffy white clouds, and the waves made by the mixer shouldn't flop after the mixer is turned off. If you are using the same mixer that you used for creaming the sugar and shortening, wash it thoroughly as the fat from the shortening will inhibit the egg whites becoming stiff. 


4. Fold the egg whites into the shortening and sugar mixture. Do not stir in the egg whites. You want to keep the light-fluffiness of the egg whites.








5. Gently stir in the cold water and the pureed tomatoes. Don't worry if the mixture seems a bit watery, it will be better after we add in the dry mixture.





6. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.




7. Mix the dry mixture into the creamy mixture. Pour this cake batter into two greased 8 inch pans. I used cooking spray to grease the pans. 

8. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes at 350 degrees. The cakes are finished when you can stick a toothpick through the middle and have it come out clean. Cool the cakes in the pan for up to ten minutes, then immediatly place them on a rack to cool completely. Cakes left sitting more than ten minutes stick horribly to the pan. After the cakes have completely cooled, feel free to frost and decorate the cake in any way you please! I decorated mine with chocolate icing and M&Ms. 

The importance of a $0.59 vanilla cone

Recipes don't just create food, they create memories.

When you eat food, or create food, you are making memories that will stay with you forever. Memories that will come back each and every time you eat.

Whenever I eat anything with nutella, I think of Germany and my German class trip. On that trip we ate nutella every day on delicious German bread.
Whenever I eat a McDonald's vanilla ice-cream cone, I think of my mother and my sister. When I was little, we would grab an ice cream cone then drive out in the cornfields to eat ice cream and sing and laugh. Our favorite song was "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from the Oklahoma musical.
Whenever I eat gingerbread cookies, I think of coming home in the winter after school. My fifth grade year, my mom often had cookies waiting for us as our after-school snack.

These are only a few of the many examples I could use to emphasize the point that food is not just food. Food is vital to our survival, brings people together, and allows you to be as creative as you want. There is something special about home cooking, and eating as a family around the dinner table. For me, food reminds me of good times I've had, and the family and friends in my life.

This blog is dedicated to those memories.