My Mom's Recipes

The author's mother as a United Airlines stewardess circa 1960

Mom, on my answering machine:

“Hi, honey, it’s your mother. Your father and I are driving to get some lunch. I have a good recipe for your website – the chocolate pie and my Never Fail Pie Crust. The crust really is never fail – you can’t screw it up. I don’t know where that recipe even came from, it’s so old. Hold on. Jay, it is not. It is not from your mother! Jay, you just remember things the way you want them to be -”

Beep.

NEVER FAIL PIE CRUST

4 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 3/4 cup shortening
1 T. vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 egg

Mix flour, salt and sugar. Place in mixer and add shortening. Mix lightly. Blend wet ingredients and add to mixer. Again, mix lightly. Makes 3 large or 4 small crusts. Freezes well.

CHOCOLATE MARVEL PIE

I double this recipe because I love chocolate. This pie recipe is so easy but when people eat it, they assume it’s so difficult. So you can have a laugh to yourself about that.

Melt:

6 ounces chocolate chips
3 T. heavy cream
2 T sugar

Add 4 egg yolks, mix gently.

Beat 3 egg whites until stiff. Fold into chocolate mixture and add one teaspoon vanilla.

Pour into 9 inch baked pie shell and chill for a few hours. Top with whipped cream.

Comments

[fobrien]

Your mother is right. I have the same recipe (except it calls for all 4 egg whites) It is a copy from a page of a cookbook. I think it was Betty Crocker, probably from the 50's.

[Tim Prescott]

Thanks for the post! I'm a recipe nut so I love finding new ones! I'll give this one a try and keep my eyes posted for more ;-)

[Colleen H.]

When someone in my family asks for chocolate pie, this is one that they are asking for. My grandmother made this pie all the time while we were growing up and the recipe has been handed down to all four of us girls. I no longer hand it out to people, as they sometime do not like the fact that it has uncooked eggs, although I have never had a problem with that. It left the Betty Crocker cookbook in the 60's, maybe for that reason?? I also use all 4 eggs whites.