Mom's $200 Peanut Butter Pie

Every year at our church fundraiser auction, the men would have bidding wars over my mom's pies. Frequently, one of Mom's pies would bring $200-plus. The men would talk all year about them and anticipate the melt-in-your-mouth first bite after they had outbid their competitors.

My best memory of her pies happened when I was a teenager. On the way to the church for a youth-group fundraiser, with a pie fresh from the oven, my best friend and I decided to stop by her house to show the pie to her mom. I had almost made it up her front-porch steps when it happened: I can still see that pie going up into the air and landing upside down. On my friend's front porch.

My friend and I looked at each other with "I can't believe this is happening" eyes, and then, as all teenagers do - we started giggling. I told her we were not going to let Mom's pie go to waste and asked her to go inside and bring back two spoons!

I don't think any pie Mom made tasted any better than that one shared with my best friend on her front porch.

Filling:

1 cup sugar

3 rounded tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)

2 cups whole milk

3 to 4 rounded tablespoons peanut butter

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pre-baked pie shell, homemade or purchased

Meringue:

3 egg whites

2 teaspoons sugar

Pinch of cream of tartar filling

Filling:

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, flour, salt and egg yolks, adding a little milk and stirring constantly until you have a thick, smooth paste. Add the rest of the milk slowly, continuing to stir until all is blended. Stir in peanut butter and butter and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly (nonstop stirring is critical to this recipe). When the mixture starts to thicken, lower the heat and cook slowly, continuing to stir until filling is the consistency of pudding.

Pour filling into pre-baked, cooled pie shell

Meringue:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat egg whites with sugar and cream of tartar until very thick. Spread on top of pie and bake at 300 degrees until meringue is lightly browned. If you prefer, you may bake the pie without the meringue and top with whipped cream or refrigerated topping after it has cooled.

Bonnie Bishop Case

Bluff Dale, Texas