CHAPTER X
Pecan Pies and Pastries
Think of the best pie or pastry you ever tasted! Think of it so hard that you ean feel the crackle of its flaky crust between your teeth, your mouth watering for more of the filling that seemed food fit for the gods.
What is that favorite pie of yours? Is it the Apple Strudel (or Apple Cake) of Pennsylvania and lower New York, with freshly sliced apples laid carefully on flaky crust, coated with sugar and cinnamon and with a rich custard filling every crevice?
Is it the fresh peach pie, or cherry pie of the fruit belts; the blackberry or huckleberry of mid- summer, or the cranberry pie of the Thanksgiving and Christmas season?
Do you share the New Englander’s love for squash pie or “pumpkin” pie; or do you, with some southerners, class those pies, along with the Jerseyman’s white potato custard, as only poor imitations of that southern delicacy—spicy, zesty sweet potato pie?
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