Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: As a child I debated as to the second best pie in the world: Rhubarb Cream Pie or Peach Cream Pie. We seldom had my first choice, cherry. As an adult, I realize rhubarb plants are quicker and easier to grow than sour cherry trees. And consider the work involved in picking and pitting cherries! Rhubarb was easily gathered by the armful, rinsed and cut quickly. Peaches came in wooden boxes. Either pie was oh so good.
My mother whipped out these pies for the threshing crews. (The word “thresh” refers to the separation of the grain from the husk or straw when oats were flailed. Threshing crews are another story.) Her cream, flour, sugar and cinnamon mix turned into peach pies or a rhubarb pies. My difficulty was choosing between the two – I wanted both.
Margaret, a college friend, particularly liked the rhubarb pie. While traveling in Europe, she met a man from Mexico. They were married and she moved to Mexico City. Cooking was not her strong suit and she wanted to make a good impression when preparing her first dinner for her Mexico City parents-in-law. She was very fond of rhubarb and decided on pie for dessert. No one touched her pie. To her chagrin she learned, after the fact, that rhubarb was considered a laxative by her husband’s family and never served for dinner. Such are the dangers of stepping outside your cultural boundaries.
In later years, I shared the recipe with Connie, a work friend who loved cooking and specialized in desserts. Immediately taken with the peach pie, she was delighted not only with the flavor but with the presentation of peach halves floating in the pie. Her peach cream pie was my first taste in 30 years.
For me, rhubarb took the competitive edge and is the recipe provided. If you want peach pie instead, simply find beautiful ripe juicy peaches (admittedly difficult), peel, cut in half and remove the pit. Place peach halves in the unbaked pie crust (round side up) and pour the cream mix over them.
The recipe is modernized. The original recipe called for cream, readily available on the 1950’s Iowa farm. Eventually Mom used half cream and half milk. My current version uses evaporated milk. If you want to cut calories use skim evaporated milk.
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This recipe for Rhubarb (Peach) Cream Pie is from