Hello Friends;
I found a bit of folded paper in my Granny Church's cookbook and it had a tag of a note scribbled on the edge of it, and it was from Tourmaline. It simply said "Momma, Pop is gone, and this is his most favorite thing I ever made for him".
It was for "Heavenly Lemon Pie"! It's a little different than most lemon pie recipes, mainly in the crust. Now, I'll give the recipe first, then ya'll can go on down the line for the story of it all.


Heavenly Lemon Pie
By Tourmaline Cales

CRUST: 3 Egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1 Cup sugar
FILLING; 8 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/2 Cup fresh lemon juice
3 teaspoons grated lemon rind
16 oz. whipping cream, whipped and divided
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1/2 Lemon sliced real thin for a garnish


CRUST: Preheat oven to 275. Beat egg whites until foamy; add cream of
tartar and beat until meringue holds soft peaks. Add sugar, 1
tablespoon at a time, and beat at high speed until meringue holds
stiff peaks. Spread meringue in a greased 9-inch pie plate.
Bake 1 hour, and then a few extra minutes till set. Cool it off
totally!

Filing: While crust bakes, prepare filling. Beat egg yolks well with
electric mixer; gradually add sugar and beat well. Mix in juice
and rind. Pour mixture into a double boiler and cook until very
thick; chill. When filling is cool, whip cream with sugar.
Spread 1/3 cream in pie shell, top with lemon filling and cover
with remaining cream. cover and chill overnight.

Now, slice those lemons up thin as ya can, and layer it in a
flower type of pattern on top of the pie. Ummm, this is a truley
light and lucious recipe that is old as the hills.

Well Friends;

The day that Granny Church had to bury our "Pop Church" was a sad day indeed. I remember that funeral, and in southern tradition, we all went back to Granny's house after the services, and ate food bought by all in the hills. That was just the way it was then, when someone you loved died, we all shared in the grief of it all. Not unlike the lookings into that picture box, it was a ritual of eating and of laughter and of recalling a rich rich life of someone who had just passed onto the hereafter.
I was only a child when all this took place, and I feel so fortunate to have the cookbook that I have with all those old things tucked inside of it.
Now, it's a new day and I still think back to Granny Church's influence on my life. I recently had an occasion to go back to Hinton, and I realized something on that drive there. I got off the Interstate, and onto the country road that leads to Alderson, and then onto a real twisty road that leads to Hinton, where Granny lived. All along that road there is a river, it's called the "Greenbrier". Beautiful as anything you'd ever wanna look at, and the mountains, everywhere you would look was nothing but beautiful mountains.
As I drove along that twisty road by the Greenbrier, I couldn't help but think of all the lives that had lived along its banks. My, the many births and deaths that just happened there, and all the rich rich family memories that must of been born there, things that words could just never write about.
I'm at home tonight with my old memories, and I happen to have a late night visitor to my room. It's a fire fly, and it's just flickerin around, and it's reminding me of so many things. I can best say I wont throw it out tonight, but rather, go to sleep while watching it, and thinking of those days of my youth, and many sweet memories of those days on the porch, and with my cousins, and all the love that was generously given to me in my youth.

Peace My Friends;
David In Virginia