I didn’t take one shot of my dinner last night because I basically just grazed from the moment I stepped in the door until I went to bed last night.
Sadly, I got stuck in traffic due to the sprinkle of rain that occurred at rush hour and didn’t get to run with Nicole. 🙁 Since I’m driving into the city during evening rush hour and against traffic, this rarely happens. But somehow it always happens on nights when I have actual plans. Ug.
I had a hefty snack which consisted of a bite of this and a bite of that (mostly carbs). Then, I ran an easy five miles and returned to the kitchen to nibble some more (this time mostly protein) and solve a dilemma…
Whose sweet potato pie recipe should I use for Thanksgiving?
You see, when two people get married, they bring a lot of things with them. Sometimes it’s furniture, bad habits, an overabundant t-shirt collection, funny quirks, etc. When one of these things bothers the other person OR when you don’t have room for both spouse’s possessions, you have to reach a compromise.
In mine and Brad’s case, we have entered into marriage with an abundance of delicious recipes from each of our families. And since both of our families are southern, many of those recipes are for the exact same thing.
When I decided to make a sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving this year, Brad immediately said I should make his mom’s sweet potato pie, which I replied with, “Maybe I should use my grandmother’s recipe”.
Now, I’ve had Brad’s mom’s sweet potato pie and let me tell you, it is delicious. I understand why Brad wants me to make it. But I also know that my grandmother’s recipe is very delicious, as well. Also, I rarely make any of her recipes because I don’t have them on hand. Additionally, these may be my “grandmother’s” recipes, but in reality, they’re my great grandmother’s recipes (her mother-in-law), because she is the one who taught my grandmother how to cook. So her recipes are very special to me because I am the fourth generation to use them.
What to do….
To make matters more complicated, when I read both recipes, I found them to be very different.
My mother-in-law’s recipe has some defining characteristics:
-It makes 2 deep dish pies (that’s a whole lotta pie!)
-It has double the sugar of my grandmother’s, even when you halve it to make only one pie
-It calls for lemon extract
-It calls for only 1/2 cup of evaporated milk
My grandmother’s on the other hand is very different:
– It doesn’t say exactly how much spice to use. ( I swear my grandmother does this so we are forced to call her and discuss the recipe with her. Very tricky Mamaw, I’m onto you.)
– It calls for double the dairy and in the form of cream, not evaporated milk
– It calls for salt, while Joy’s pie does not
So, after going over and over the recipes, I decided to call my grandmother (exactly as she had planned). After discussing this with her, I learned that she often adds more sugar and uses more half-in-half, rather than less cream as her recipe states. This goes back to my grandmother’s instructions that “you just have to feel it” when she cooks. In reality, I just have to call her to get the real recipe.
We came up with a plan that would allow me to use elements of both recipes, which hopefully will have a good result. I’m going to use my family as guinea pigs and if they like it, maybe it will become my own sweet potato pie recipe.
Who am I kidding? Brad will ultimately be the deciding vote.
This morning, I packed up my bag of pie making essentials and headed off to work.
I’m working a half day, then going over to my aunt’s house to try out my pie making skills with my cousin, Ashlyn.
I’m excited to try this out and I’ll definitely post the recipe and let you all know how this turns out. Cross your fingers.