CHOCOLATE PIE

Melt one square of Baker’s unsweetened chocolate, or 1/4 cup of powdered cocoa, mix with this 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of corn starch.  When well mixed add yolks of 3 eggs, a pinch of salt, 2 cups of milk; cook all together in a double boiler until thickened.  When cool flavor with vanilla.  Fill pastry-lined pie crust with the mixture.  Beat the 3 whites of eggs to a froth, mix with a couple tablespoonfuls of pulverized sugar, spread on top of pie, stand in oven until light brown.

“PEBBLE DASH” OR SHOO-FLY PIE

Aunt Sarah made these to perfection and called them “Pebble Dash” pie.  They are not really pies, they resemble cakes, but having a crust we will class them with pies.  She lined three small sized pie-tins with rich pie crust.  For the crumbs she placed in a bowl 3 cups of flour, 1 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cup of butter and lard, mixed and rubbed all together with the hands, not smooth, but in small rivels.  For the liquid part she used 1 cup baking molasses, 1 cup hot water, 1 teaspoonful baking soda dissolved in a few drops of vinegar and stirred this into the molasses and water.  She divided the liquid among the three pans, putting one-third in each crust, over which she sprinkled the crumbs.  Bake one-half hour in a moderate oven.  These have the appearance of molasses cakes when baked.

VANILLA CRUMB “CRUSTS”

Cook together a short time 1/2 cup molasses, 1 egg, 1 tablespoonful flour, 1 cup sugar, 2 cups cold water.  Moisten the flour with a little cold water before adding to the other ingredients.  When cooled add 1 teaspoonful of vanilla.  Pour this mixture in the bottom of each of four common sized pie-tins, lined with pastry, and sprinkle over the following crumbs: 

THE CRUMBS (FOR VANILLA CRUMB CRUSTS).

Two cups flour, 1/2 cup butter and lard, mixed, 1/2 teaspoonful soda and 1 cup sugar, rubbed together with the hands to form crumbs.  Scatter these crumbs over the four pies.

These are not thick pies, but simply what the recipe calls them—­vanilla “crusts.”

“KASHA KUCHEN” OR CHERRY CAKE

Aunt Sarah sometimes filled the bottom crusts of two small pies (either cheese pie or plain custard) with a layer of fresh cherries and poured the custard over the top of the cherries and baked same as a plain custard pie.

Aunt Sarah might be called extravagant by some, but she always made egg desserts when eggs were cheap and plentiful, in the Spring.  In Winter she baked pies and puddings in which a fewer number of eggs were used and substituted canned and dried fruits for fresh ones.  In summer she used fresh fruit when in season, ice cream and sherbets.  She never indulged in high-priced, unseasonable fruits—­thought it an extravagance for one to do so, and taught Mary “a wise expenditure in time means wealth.”