Natchez recipes

Three cups flour, one cup Crisco, one pinch salt, one teaspoon baking powder, one-half cup boiling water. Sift flour into bowl, add salt and baking powder. Put Crisco on mixture. Add boiling water and mix well. Put on floured oil paper, let chill for an hour before using. PUFF PASTE One cup butter, two cups sifted flour, one-fourth teaspoon salt, onefourth cup ice water, two egg yolks. Soften butter, add flour, salt and ice water. Lastly beat in egg yolks. Chill. This paste cannot be rolled too thin. Cook in hot oven. PIE CRUST (Plain) One-third cup shortening, four to six tablespoons cold water, three-fourths teaspoon salt, one-half teaspoon baking powder. Mix and sift dry ingredients. Cut in the cold fat repeatedly catching it between the edges of two knives and cutting through it, or by working it in lightly with a fork using a stirring motion. Continue stroking the mixture with the two knives until the fat is worked into fine balls resembling the granules in corn-meal. Gradually add the cold water, mixing it lightly with a knife or fork. PUMPKIN PIE Three-fourths cup brown sugar, one teaspoon flour, one-half teaspoon each of salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, one-half teaspoon ginger. One and one-half cups cooked or canned pumpkin, one and one-half cups condensed milk, and two well-beaten eggs. Mix sugar, flour, salt and spices together, add remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. Pour into deep pie pan lined with unbaked pastry. Bake in hot oven for 10 minutes; reduce to slow and bake 30 minutes longer, or until firm. Makes one 9-inch pie. LEMON PIE One cup sugar, four tablespoons flour, few grains salt, one cup water, three egg yolks, two tablespoons butter, one lemon, juice and rind (more juice may be added to suit individual taste), three egg whites, nine tablespoons sugar. Mix one cup sugar, flour, salt and a little water until smooth. Add beaten egg yolks and remaining water. Cook over hot water until thick, stirring constantly. Cover baked pie shell. Cover with meringue made of egg whites and sugar. Sprinkle with grated nutmeg, if desired. Bake in slow oven for 20 minutes, or until meringue is a light brown. CARAMEL PIE Six tablespoons brown sugar, one and three-fourths cup sugar, one-half stick butter, nine tablespoons flour, one cup milk. Cook until thick. When cool add six egg yolks. Cool slightly and add one teaspoon vanilla. Put in baked pie shell and add meringue made of six egg whites, beaten stiff. Add slowly, twelve tablespoons sugar. Bake in slow oven until a light brown. Makes 2 pies. CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE