wavering between orange, yelbw and
brown and the substratum, wafer-like in its
thinness, of paste. The custard pie, then
demands a pie pan of an uncommon
depth and spaciousness, with a capacity
not frittered away in broad and spreading
edges but, rather, with boundaries of an
upright character and quite unobtrusive,
the necessary wall of crust being of no
great moment, so that it be respectably
short as all about a custard pie that is
worthy of consideration relates only to
the filling. Taking this view of the cus-
tard pie, which I believe is the popular
one. I have been troubled about pie
pans. We have none at this place but
such as are shallow, almost flat, nothing
that IS a cross between pie plate and pud-
ding pan, which is what the exigency de-
mands. Thinking to get out of the dilem-
ma easily enough I went over to the
country store and explained the matter to
the merchant, who would not even stop
for me to finish before he went off nod-
ding and smiling, saying he had just what
I wanted, some pie plates that were deep
and some that were deeper. There never
was a man more mistaken in the use of
words. All he really had was some that
were shallow and some others that were
shallower, and I spent some time trying to
prove it to him, but as he was German it
seemed without much success. Then I
had to come home, take a hammer and
beat the broad, flat, edges of the pie
plates we have into a comparative per-
pendicularity. They look bad but, *'what
can't be cured must be endured," — as the
sailor said when he bade his sweetheart,
good bye — "so fareweU, Susan," etc.
The very last time 1 had a talk with
Mrs. Tingee — we are opposite neighbor's
and it is common for me to step in of a
morning — just as I was as X thought well
out of ttie house she stopped me on the
steps with the usual, "Oh, tell me some-
thing, now, what can I have for dinner?',
"Why; Mrs. Tingee, why don't you give
your boarders some roast iamb? There
is nothing better ; and as for the price it
is really no dearer now than mutton or
the other meat you buy." But, wouldn't
they eat — " Whatever she may have in-
tended to say, she did not linish the
sentence but stopped for a moment and
then resumed ;
"No; it is not much trouble about the
meat part, but it is the something to come
after. I ought to make them something.
Day before yesterday I gave them pud-
ding; yesterday we had nothing and it
seems as though I ought to have some-
thing to-day, and it ought to be pie and,
oh, I do dread to make pie, so!'
I could plainly see a shiver ran all
through the poor lady as she said this;
probably she was thinking of lard and the
outlay involved in its use.
"Why not make a custard pie," I said,
"it does not require much pie paste.'
"I should want some eggs, shouldn"t
I?" she asked dubiouslv.^
"Yes; perhaps four.'
"Couldn't you make it with two, if it
was you?"
"How can I tell when I don't know
how much or how many you are going to
make.'*'
She gazed away off into space for a
while. There was a mighty argument for
and against pie going on in her mind.
Then coming close and looking around
to see that there were no listeners, she said
in a low tone :
"I would not say it to anybody but
you, but I have one boarder, a young
man, that actually sometimes eats four
pieces of pie.?" ✪ Mrs. Tingee's Costard Pie
Page 175 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
wavering between orange, yellow and brown and the substratum, wafer-like in its thinness, of paste. The custard pie, then demands a pie pan of an uncommon depth and spaciousness, with a capacity not frittered away in broad and spreading edges but, rather, with boundaries of an upright character and quite unobtrusive, the necessary wall of crust being of no great moment, so that it be respectably short as all about a custard pie that is worthy of consideration relates only to the filling. Taking this view of the custard pie, which I believe is the popular one. I have been troubled about pie pans. We have none at this place but such as are shallow, almost flat, nothing that IS a cross between pie plate and pudding pan, which is what the exigency demands. Thinking to get out of the dilemma easily enough I went over to the country store and explained the matter to the merchant, who would not even stop for me to finish before he went off nodding and smiling, saying he had just what I wanted, some pie plates that were deep and some that were deeper. There never was a man more mistaken in the use of words. All he really had was some that were shallow and some others that were shallower, and I spent some time trying to prove it to him, but as he was German it seemed without much success. Then I had to come home, take a hammer and beat the broad, flat, edges of the pie plates we have into a comparative perpendicularity. They look bad but, *"what can't be cured must be endured," — as the sailor said when he bade his sweetheart, good bye — "so farewell, Susan," etc.
The very last time 1 had a talk with Mrs. Tingee — we are opposite neighbor's and it is common for me to step in of a morning — just as I was as I thought well out of the house she stopped me on the steps with the usual, "Oh, tell me something, now, what can I have for dinner?', "Why; Mrs. Tingee, why don't you give your boarders some roast iamb? There is nothing better ; and as for the price it is really no dearer now than mutton or the other meat you buy." But, wouldn't they eat — " Whatever she may have intended to say, she did not finish the sentence but stopped for a moment and then resumed ;
"No; it is not much trouble about the meat part, but it is the something to come
after. I ought to make them something. Day before yesterday I gave them pudding; yesterday we had nothing and it seems as though I ought to have something to-day, and it ought to be pie and, oh, I do dread to make pie, so!'
I could plainly see a shiver ran all through the poor lady as she said this; probably she was thinking of lard and the outlay involved in its use.
"Why not make a custard pie," I said, "it does not require much pie paste.'
"I should want some eggs, shouldn't I?" she asked dubiously.
"Yes; perhaps four.'
"Couldn't you make it with two, if it was you?"
"How can I tell when I don't know how much or how many you are going to make.'*'
She gazed away off into space for a while. There was a mighty argument for and against pie going on in her mind. Then coming close and looking around to see that there were no listeners, she said in a low tone :
"I would not say it to anybody but you, but I have one boarder, a young man, that actually sometimes eats four pieces of pie."
Records on this page
Mrs. Tingee's Costard Pie