(Editor’s note: If your family has a treasured holiday dessert that you’d like to share with Hoptown Chronicle, email the ingredients and instructions to us at editor@hoptownchornicle.org and we’ll take it from there.)
Food memories are a cornerstone of our family. The holidays, in particular, have always been a time of magic, whether it’s around the table or in the kitchen. Over the past 30 years, the love of cooking has been a bond that my mom, sisters, brother, nieces and nephews, and husband all share, and it’s given birth to numerous traditions that we hold dear.
Our family’s holiday traditions, from Christmas baking to gift-giving, have stood the test of time, uniting us all, no matter where we are. Our grandmother, Margaret Dixon, was renowned for her Butterscotch Pies, which were always the first to disappear at the annual Grace Episcopal Lenten Lunches. Today, my sister Sarah and I keep her and our mother’s legacy alive by making our famous Nutty Caramel Corn, Melting Moments Cookies, Butterscotch Pies, Caramel Sauce, and Caramel Icing.
There is an art to making caramel sauce. Sarah has the technique down and agreed to help me out when Tony and I were the host cooks for a Lenten Lunch at Grace Episcopal Church several years ago. This was a few months after our mom had died, so emotions were high.
For all who have cooked lunch for 80 at church, you know what pressure it is! As I was walking out the door, with two beautiful caramel pies in hand (thank you, angel Sarah), one slipped and slid down my leg to the ground and broke. Just then, my mom’s beautiful long-haired cat, Yoyo, went through my legs, so I now had quite a situation.
Arriving at church with only one pie, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d received a valuable lesson from my mom. Sometimes, in the midst of life’s chaos, all you can do is laugh and not take everything so seriously. It was a moment of lightness and a reminder of the joy that can be found in the unexpected. I call these my “God is trying to tell you something” moments.
Sarah and I shop early. There is a plan. It includes lots of butter, which is in the refrigerator now. We plan to spend some time together in December, following the recipes in Mom’s handwriting along with her notes. We enjoy packaging everything up with a bow, and a note and delivering the goodies. Sometimes by this time in our holiday cooking journey we are rather crazy, maybe from all the sugar, or laughs, but always so happy to share these gifts of love with our friends.
Butterscotch Pies
6 eggs, separated
3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons flour, heaping
Pinch of salt
2 cups half and half
4 tablespoons butter
Make custard with half and half scalded. Add egg yolks to 2 cups sugar and 2 tablespoons flour and salt. Pour some of the scalded half and half into yolk mixture and cook in double boiler until thickened. While making custard, place 1 cup sugar in a skillet on low heat, melt until caramelized. Add 4 tablespoons butter, add custard to skillet (both hot), cook until thickened. Cool.
Makes 2 pies in a 9-inch crust, or about 20 tart shells. Make meringue with egg whites beaten stiff (at room temperature) adding ¾ c sugar. Put meringue on pies and brown in 350-degree oven.
(This recipe comes from Margaret Prim’s maternal grandmother, Margaret Dixon, and was previously published in “Let’s Say Grace,” a Grace Episcopal Church cookbook.)
Margaret Prim is executive director of the Pennyroyal Arts Council and serves on the governing board for the Kentucky Arts Council. She is a Hopkinsville Rotarian and part-owner of The Crusty Pig restaurant in downtown Hopkinsville.
