Like Grandma Baker's Montgomery Pie

There are some things that are so special you can't even describe them.  There are some people who are so
unique, you can't help but want to describe them.

Grandma Baker would have been 97 this year.  My mother was her surprise baby - Grandma was 40 when my mother was born.  She was raised during the depression and still lived with some of those values.  She used to tell stories of making playing cards from paper or a cardboard box.  They used to play with bugs.  They had no money.  They lived on a farm and my grandmother planted a garden until she was in her 80's.  She canned enough food to last the winter and I can remember eating dandelion soup at her house. (yes... from fresh picked dandelions in the back yard.) 

She didn't use recipes - but could whip up an amazing meal with just 3 ingredients.  There are things about her kitchen I really miss.  I miss the canister of cookies that always set full on the counter top.  I miss cutting corn off the cob around her kitchen table with my mom, aunts, and cousins.  I miss the warm sunlight that streamed in the dining room windows while we ate a Sunday family meal.  I miss playing with bugs in her driveway.  And I missed her Montgomery Pie.

Grandma Baker was the woman who helped anyone who asked.  You needed a skirt hemmed? Take it to Grandma Baker.  You needed a meal cooked? Ask Grandma Baker. She was not a woman who gave out "I love you's" - but she was a woman who showed her love over and over during a normal day.  She made this amazing pie.  The recipe is touted as a family secret - but really it is not.

She gave freely - so in honor of Grandma Baker - try baking her world famous Montgomery Pie

You will need 4 pie pans.  4 crusts and to preheat your oven to about 350.

The Goo.... mix together:
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp flour
1 egg beaten
1 cup King Syrup
2 cups water

Then you pour this into the bottom of the 4 pies.

Next - mix up the cake top:
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla
3 eggs, beaten
3 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cup thick milk (for those of you who don't know... thick milk is milk with as much tsp of baking soda.  so 1 1/2 cup thick milk would be:  1 1/2 cup milk mixed with 1 1/2 tsp baking soda.)  The secret to this recipe is Grandma Baker used Whole Milk.  If you never have it with whole milk, you might never know the difference... but trust me - Grandma Baker's used whole milk.

Use a Ladle to scoop and pour the cake batter over the top of the goo.  You will probably have cake batter left over, depending on how big your pie pans are.  Bake for 30-45 minutes.  Your pie should not "jiggle" when it comes out of the oven.

There you have it.  Grandma Baker's Legacy was so much more than this simple pie and few short words - but if you make these pies, you will be hard pressed not to smile, close your eyes, and sigh...mmmmm.

That is Grandma Baker.  A smile, a sigh, and a mmmmmm.