Meeting Up for Coffee & Pie

A few weeks ago, I took my mom to meet an aunt I hadn’t seen since I was a young child. She was going to be within an hour of my home so we planned to drive over. She wanted to meet up for coffee and pie! I must admit that I was saddened that the restaurant did not have pie at all! Gone are the days of the local diner with corner jukebox and vast array of pies…Pecan, Coconut cream, Lemon Meringue, Cherry, and Apple served ala mode or with thick slabs of cheddar.

Meeting for coffee and pie was a “thing” when I was growing up. It’s how people got together for a visit. If there were kids, we’d get our own booth where we could visit without disturbing the adults, otherwise you sat quietly, bored and listened. In those days, children were to be seen and not heard, but if you were good at it, you’d sure get an ear full of gossip, a helping of adult humor, the news around town and a stroll down memory lane.

In those days, people didn’t rush. It was a simpler time and people took their time with one another. A meeting like this could easily last a couple hours. Many of the woes of the world were solved, laughter shared, friendships and memories made, all served up with a steamy cup and a fat slice of pie.

Dixie Pie (Bourbon Pecan with Chocolate Chips)

1 9-inch pie crust (store-bought or homemade)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

½ cup butter (1 stick)

4 large eggs, beaten

¼ cup bourbon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (approximately 1 cup)

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a deep dish pie plate with the pie crust, set aside.

Combine sugar, corn syrup and butter in a saucepan. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until butter melts and sugar completely dissolves. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine egg, bourbon, vanilla and salt. Mix thoroughly. Very slowly pour cooled sugar mixture into egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the heat from the sugar mixture doesn’t cook the egg mixture. Add the chocolate chips and pecans and stir to mix well.

Pour mixture into pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until set and golden on top.

Serve warm with vanilla bean Ice cream or chilled with whipped cream.

Buttermilk Pie

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup sugar
1/2 stick butter softened
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
1 unbaked regular 9 inch pie shell

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine flour, sugar, and butter in a bowl and mix well.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.

Add buttermilk, vanilla, and salt.

Pour into pie shell and bake for 55 minutes until the middle is set and light golden brown.

Coconut Cream pie

Preferred Pie crust traditional or graham cracker

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

2 large egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons Coconut extract

1 C shredded coconut plus more for topping

If using a traditional pie crust, prick crust with a fork and bake according to pkg.

In a 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Gradually stir at least half of the hot mixture into egg yolks, then stir back into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in butter and coconut extract. Fold in 1 c. Coconut.

Pour pudding into the pie crust. Cover and refrigerate about 1 hour or until chilled. Top with generous heaping amount of whipped cream and top with toasted coconut.

If You’re thinking of hosting a coffee and pie get together, kick it up a notch by serving French Pressed Coffee, offering a variety of sweeteners like cinnamon sugar, pumpkin pie spiced sugar and vanilla sugar and ALWAYS with real cream!

Always With Love – Laura