A Lily Hollow staple for generations and often described as Thanksgiving dinner in a bite, no one can quite agree on where the recipe came from.
The Story
“What is this?” Ivy asked, mouth full of pie.
“Potluck Pie,” AJ responded without looking up from her book.
The Bookshop Hotel Cafe’s counter was line with pies and casseroles as Nancy Harrigan’s bookclub wandered in from the cold, depositing their contributions for the evening’s Thanksgiving meeting as they found their seats. It was too nippy out for them to gather in the garden as they usually did, and Matthew had already started a roaring fire in the fireplace.
“What’s in it? This is amazing! It’s like a whole holiday in my mouth!”
AJ smirked a bit, “Have you seriously not had one yet? How long have you been here? That’s a Lily Hollow specialty.”
“It was definitely one of my first discoveries,” Matthew said. “Ground beef and Jimmy Dean sausage, shallots, plums, peaches, cinnamon… in a pie. Yum.”
“Owens sausage,” Nancy interjected.
“MacGregor’s sausage!” Ann said louder. “And the plums were not in the original recipe!”
“They were too,” Beverly Carson snipped, “because the Carsons have always grown the best plum trees in their yard.”
“Why do you care?” Ann asked, “You weren’t born a Carson.”
“And it was Abigail Lacey’s recipe in the first place, all the rest of you are copycats,” Hannah defended. “I should know, I have her old recipe books, dated all the way back to the day the bakery opened.”
“Yes, dear, but that recipe existed long before Abigail started selling it so the locals could grab a quick one on the way to church if they forgot to make something themselves,” Nancy reminded everyone while patting Hannah’s hand.
“It’s true,” AJ said, “Granddaddy Jack always said he grew up eating the stuff, and he was older than Abigail.
“It was the Founders,” several of the oldest in the group nodded in unison.
“I always thought it was old Bartie’s Mama’s recipe,” Sue said.
“Could have been, could have been,” a few nodded.
The Recipe
A Lily Hollow classic with many variations, especially regarding the pie crust. Nancy cheats and uses two frozen pie crusts as both top and bottom. Anne refuses the use of plums and uses all peaches, she has been accused of using canned peaches including the syrup, but will not confess. Abigail Lacey insisted on only Saigon cinnamon. The Carsons use only plums and add pinches of clove.
1/2 lb. Ground Breakfast Sausage
1/2 lb. Ground Beef
2 shallots diced
3 plums diced
1 peach diced
2 handfuls of small purple potatoes
pinches of cinnamon
pinches of nutmeg
pinches of flour
pie crust bottom: 1 1/4 all purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup butter diced, 1/4 cup cold water
pie crust top: 1 1/4 all purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup butter diced, 1/4 cup cold water
Preheat oven to 350 degree.
In a bowl combine flour and salt. Cut butter into the mixture until you see course crumbs. Stir in water a bit at a time until you can form a ball. Roll dough out to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Please crust in a pie dish, press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides. Repeat and set dough aside for the top.
Brown all the meat together in a skillet. Add shallots and potatoes and stir until potatoes are mostly soft. Add fruit and spices and place the lid atop to allow it to steam for a few minutes. Add a few pinches of extra flour to thicken mixture and stir. Let cool, pour mixture into pie crust and add top. Bake until pie crust is golden brown.
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