Smith's Tamale Pie

We are experiencing unusually cool weather here in NE AR.  My mind turns to cooler climates and fall foods.  This Tamale Pie recipe is old and has been handed down for at least four generations.  My mother got it from one of her friends she had grown up with.  This is one of her friends she was closest to and always said "she is just one of those people I never remember not knowing."  The story is that the Smith's had this every Christmas Eve and so the tradition continued with my family.  This is labor and love intensive but worth the effort.  Sassy always served this with her slaw and saltine crackers.  Once again this is written in Sassy's own handwriting.  Yes, she did grind her own meat and today I wish I had that hand meat grinder she used.  Until making this I had no idea how much love and care went into this dish.

Once you make this you will understand why it was served only on Christmas Eve.  It was made lovingly ahead of time and frozen so Sassy could join in the festivities.  I have never made hot tamales (the regular size), but after my daughter's experience I will most likely continue to buy them in my home state of Mississippi and bring them home to enjoy.

Frito Pie: Youth Remembered

Frito Pie.  Many nights in my youth we had Frito Pie.  It must have been cheap and easy.  With five children to feed, my mother must have always sought the cheap and easy.  I experimented last evening and I can tell you it is fairly easy to make but not as inexpensive.  My husband and sister were the guinea pigs.

10.5 oz. bag of Fritoes

 A 10 1/2 oz. bag of original Fritos is just under $ 4.00.  Now that is not a lot of Fritos as they are always opened before dinner time and many are missing.  I have never found a substitute for this snack food.  I always fear the company will stop making this size and when they do we will not only not have Frito Pie anymore, but chilli dinners will never be the same.  Actually, chilli with Fritos is almost Frito Pie.

Why I decided to make Frito Pie in the middle of summer?  I have no answer for that beyond nostalgia.  It has been rainy here for two weeks so at least the sky provided the correct atmosphere and air conditioning provided cold air.

Meat part cooking.

 Both my husband and my sister were delighted with the results and we had a good conversation about foods we had as we were growing up.  Food seemed to be the center of every memory.

Frito Pie complete with meat mixture, Fritos, and grated cheese.

 We usually have wine with dinner but I could not come up with a red that was suitable so those that drink it, had a beer and I had a water. Might try a Malbec or Old Vine Zin this winter.  Definitely will be using this recipe again when the leaves turn and the weather gets crispy.



Frito Pie

2 lbs ground chuck
1 14 oz. can tomato sauce
1 can green chillies and tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
2 Tbl chilli powder ( I use more0
1 Tbl cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup masa or regular corn meal
1/2 cup water

Brown ground meat with onion and garlic.  Add tomato sauce, tomatoes and green chillies, chilli powder, cumin, oregano and salt and simmer covered for 30 minutes.

Rinse and drain beans.  Add to mixture and simmer another 20 minutes.  

Combine corn meal and warm water and stir and add to mixture and simmer for 10 or 15 minutes.

Pour mixture over Fritos and top with grated sharp cheddar cheese.  Do not use cheese that has already been grated because it will not have good flavor.  More Fritos over top with cheese.

If you are feeding more than four people have at least two bags of original Fritos on hand.


Enjoy.

Sister

Sister was a large part of my Delta life.  My paternal grandparents farmed Clear Lake Farms outside of Shelby, MS.  My Granddaddy Rowe and Cody employed her everyday as long as they lived.  She was a fixture in their household.  She and her family had worked for my grandparents on Clear Lake Farm outside of Shelby, MS.
The story is that Cody taught Sister, at age 14,  how to cook everything she knew how to cook and then never darkened the door of the kitchen again.  That is why Sister moved into town with my grandparents.  Sister's food was excellent, so Cody must have been an excellent teacher.  At Cody and Granddaddy's very few meals were eaten in the large, airy kitchen.  We ate most meals including breakfast in the dining room.  Sister could always be heard quietly whispering her own addition to Granddaddy's mealtime prayer.  I always wondered what she prayed but never asked.
Sister made one of  most delicious deserts I remember in the summertime, which is when I was in residence the most.  We all looked forward to her Chocolate Marble Cake.  It was a chocolaty yummy confection that was cold on a hot summer's day.

So loved was this confection that my mother asked her to give us the recipe.  That must have been almost 50 years ago.  My mother, sisters, my friend, Barbara (one of the best cooks I know) and I have all tried to use Sister's recipe to duplicate that Chocolate Marble Cake with no success.  We wonder did Sister leave out a key ingredient on purpose or was it somehow lost in translation.  I give you that recipe  in honor of all the wonderful, prayerful meals I enjoyed made by Sister.  Sister made hers and put it in a tube pan.  When set, she would unmold.  This has always been the sticking point.  This recipe requires a trifle bowl and no unmolding required. This is how my mother recorded the recipe. If any of you discover how to get this out of a tube pan as a whole please share.

Here is what my progress looked like:

Melted chocolate over water.

Beaten egg yolks

Tempered egg yolks and chocolate

Whipped cream and egg whites incorporated into chocolate.

Finished product after a couple of hours in fridge.

This was delicious but I can't imagine how Sister ever got hers out of a tube pan and served slices.  Tasty and will be enjoyed by all who try it.

A note:  Several years ago my mother was going through old silver.  In a bag was a set of very black silver that included a center bowl, covered butter plate and some other odd container.  These pieces were on my grandparents table at every meal.  The bowl always contained some sort of flower arrangement,  The source of those flowers is a mystery to me as my grandparents lived in a very rural part of Mississippi.  I am sure Sister spent some of her non cooking time polishing these pieces.
My mother requested that I take these to a shop in Memphis to see what the cost of having them re silvered would be as they were so sentimental.  On discovering the cost she said just forget that.  I have yet to have the courage to dispose of those pieces but I think without much ceremony I shall do that today.

Missouri

Mariana, AR is a small town in the Arkansas Delta.  My family lived there when I was around 4 and 5 years old.  We crisscrossed the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta for eight years for my father's work.  It also kept us strategically located to maternal and paternal grandparents.   At this time there were just us three sisters.  I was the middle girl.  Some of my most vivid and memorable experiences came from our two years in this small Delta town.

Lindsey, Paula, and Rebecca

 It was here that we spent lazy summer days running barefoot through the yard and the neighborhood.  We spent many afternoons on the back steps with a tube of saltines and mustard.  This was a snack that Lindsey could prepare.  

My brother Jimmy was on the way by this time, so Missouri became a part of our life.  I don't remember how often and I don't know for how long.  I don't recall her being a great cook but I assume her help with the laundry (hung out to dry, of course) and other household chores allowed my mother a bit of time to cook.

It was also at this time that we all got pixie haircuts.  For those of you who do not remember the hated pixie cut, it was just short of being a boy's haircut.  My mother told us it was just too traumatic to pull and brush three sets of ponytails of pigtails every morning so our hair had to go. It certainly was not a fashion statement.  

Our maternal grandmother lived 20 miles up the road and during vegetable harvest season we spent much time with her.  My sister recalls the time when a bushel of purple hulls appeared at my grandmother's house and she and my mother tried to convince us that it was a great and fun game to shell the peas.  It did not take long to tire of the sore and purple thumbs.  We also made trips up to Crowley's Ridge in the fall of the year to purchase muscadines for jelly.  Maw maw, my maternal grandmother, would make my favorite jelly from this odd tart fruit.  I loved to eat them raw as the texture was so interesting.

Beautiful muscadine jelly.

Muscadine Juice - Take six cups of raw muscadines after cleaning of stems and trash.  Cover with water and bring to a boil as berries simmer mash, mash, mash.  Mash and simmer for 15 minutes and them put through a sieve and mash until juice is all mashed out into a bowl.

Maw maw's Muscadine Jelly

4 cups muscadine juice 
3 tsp. lemon juice
1 3 oz. package liquid pectin
7 cups of sugar
Bring 1st 3 ingredients to boil in Dutch oven, stirring constantly; stir in sugar.  Return to boil, boil stirring constantly, 1 minute. Remove from heat; skim off foam.  Pour hot jelly into hot sterilized jars quickly, filling to 1/4 inch from top; wipe jar rims.  Cover at once with metal lids and screw bands on.  Process in a boiling water bath 5 minutes.  Makes 8 half pints.

Switching Focus

Going to start a series of blogs based on the women in my life and what they brought to the table.  So many influences so much food.  First post to follow soon.

Between the Houses

These photos make me happy so I am sharing.  My neighbors and we have a small yard but we make the best of it between the houses.
Japanese lanterns make everyday festive between the houses.  Ready for a cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of wine in the in the evening. 

Add Japanese lanterns for magic.

Inexpensive chairs and Japanese lanterns

 Mild weather in the South in August is reason alone to celebrate.  As you can see it doesn't take much lawn space to create a magical atmosphere.

Dusk Falls

 Children of all ages enjoy the magic that a few inexpensive Japanesee lanterns create.

CELEBRATING EVERYDAY LIFE

Everyday table setting.

Most of us wait until a special occasion to bring out the fun dishes.  I do this at least twice a week and it becomes our everyday celebration.  It adds about 30 minutes to my prep time and is worth every minute.  We tend to linger longer and the conversation is livelier if I take the time to have a festive table.

Fun bowls were a find at TJ Maxx

 The pieces used are a combination of old and new.  I have two sets of white or cream dinner plates as almost every other color works with these.  The red stemware is from a set of french antiques that I bought at an antique store years ago.  The red salad plate is an old Pier I purchase and the bright happy bowls were a recent TJ Maxx purchase.  The bowl is one of two so I bought large matching mugs to use as salad/accent pieces.  The red napkins are from a set my mother used for years.  They wash and come right out of the dryer ready to use.  

 I keep hothouse plants as they are a good alternative to expensive flower arrangements for an everyday celebration.  I have set an extra plate here hoping a friend will drop in to share our meal.  On this occasion our lovely neighbor honored us.

Simple meals will be upgraded with a table set for fun.  This night we had a bagged meal (chicken Florentine) that took ten minutes, deli bread heated and a salad made with watermelon and tomatoes.

Everyday should be a celebration and this elevates that celebration just a little.