Appalachian Sweet Potato Pie ... except not gross

Some missionaries have dinner appointments and have to worry about eating things like fish eye balls and fetal ducklings and monkey brains. You would think going to North Carolina you wouldn't have to worry about the food, especially since I'm not a picky eater. I think the only thing I really can't swallow is canned peas. The thing I didn't realize, though, is that the western-most regions of North Carolina are truly Appalachia. Remember the Darlings from The Andy Griffith Show? Yeah, that was my mission. (Seriously, Mayberry was in my mission boundaries.) I was a little surprised by the accent when I got there. I was expecting more of the usual southern drawl you think of, but really, most people that had been there for generations had that very stereotypical sort of accent that Hollywood uses for Hillbillies. They actually got that right! And, really, the real mountain folk don't consider hillbilly an offensive term at all (unless you're trying to be offensive.) I had no idea when I got my mission call to North Carolina that I would one day be eating fried squirrel, and I was totally bummed to find out that RIGHT after I went home, my companion got to eat bear.

 

The things that most people thought were really scary to eat (like squirrels and chitlins) I was totally fine with. It was some of the more run of the mill southern food that I had to work up the courage for. Case in point: here is part of a letter dated 26 June 2003, when I was serving in Danville, VA. One of our investigators, an 81 year old man, and his 56 year old girlfriend surprised us with a home made dinner at one of our teaching appointments.



"... at our next appointment Lawrence made us spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and celery with cream cheese on it. (We had JUST eaten!) And y'all know how southern folks are about forcing you to eat. Southern spaghetti is like spaghetti-soup, so that wasn't a surprise, but Lawrence's stuff was BAD, bless his heart. They're not dirty people but they have this cat, Spooky, that I don't know what's wrong with it, but it's all like greasy and scabby and it's always on the table, so the table was pretty dirty with the stuff that falls off Spooky. The spaghetti was made with giant hunks of chuck roast (that wasn't all the way cooked) and italian sausage and country sausage. The salad was made with vegetables from his garden, so that was really nice, but he's old and can't see that well, and in the big salad bowl there was a bug crawlin' around.
It was one of those times where Sister Scanlan and I could NOT look at each other because we were holding in laughing the WHOLE time. Lawrence made such a big deal out of his cream cheese celery appetizers. He was SO excited for us to try them. They had brown stuff on them that looked like dirt, and I kept imagining it was stuff that fell off Spooky! Sister Scanlan took the smallest one which was ok with me because I got the one with the least brown stuff on it. Lawrence and Nancy were watching us as we took our first bite. We both bit into it at the same time, and that was it - we were stuck. We couldn't tear the bite off! The celery was so old it was like hard rubber! So now we've got this celery stickin' out of our mouths and we can't stop laughing!"

I'll take bear, squirrel, or even opossum, any day over that!



One thing that I forgot I wasn't too fond of before arriving in North Carolina was sweet potatoes. They were something I only ever had at Thanksgiving, I would always try a little, remember I didn't like them, and then not think about them again for a year. But in North Carolina sweet potatoes are a year-round dish, and one that everyone has a signature recipe for that they are very proud to serve you. (Invariably these recipes involve LOTS of brown sugar, and very often pineapple and pecans.) Instead of old fashioned boring sweet potato pie, usually they would call their sugar-filled sweet potato dishes, "Sweet Potato Fluff," and they all assumed we'd never had anything as yummy as their version of Sweet Potato Fluff.

I got used to them enough that I could eat them without having to concentrate on what my facial expressions were doing, but I never did have a Sweet Potato Fluff that was as yummy as it was reported to be.

Thanksgiving, 2005, James and I flew out to Utah to spend a few days with his newly relocated parents and brother and sister in law. Annelie happened to be in Utah visiting her sister and neices, so she stopped by for bit on Thanksgiving, too. She brought Sweet Potato Fluff. I couldn't believe it, I know I busted up laughing. But she didn't bring it as a joke, she said this was the only version she actually liked on her mission and she got the recipe from a lady in Stuart, VA. I was skeptical. I figured it would be edible, but certainly not yummy. I was wrong. It was great. The FIRST sweet potato fluff that lived up to its reputation.

I actually call it a pie because when I make it I put it in a pie shell. Usually sweet potato fluffs are crustless. I've also made some changes to the recipe that I'll note that make it not so sweet. I have NO idea why we think we need to take the sweetest vegetable ever and then add a bunch of sugar to it! If you use the full amount of sugar it's like a dessert that you'll only want a small amount of, if you reduce the sugar it has a little more street cred to make its way onto your Thanksgiving plate with all the other stuff.

Appalachian Sweet Potato Pie ... except not gross

Filling:

2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (change #1: I discovered when Sam was a baby that there are orange sweet potatoes and white sweet potatoes. The white ones are less sweet, and in my opinion MUCH tastier. I actually MAKE sweet potatoes now, something I never thought would happen!)

1 stick of butter (softenened)

2 egg yolks (reserve the whites to use in this recipe later)

1 cup brown sugar (change #2: You really don't need that much. It's good that way, but I like it better with a little less sugar.)

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup milk

2 egg whites beaten stiff with 1/4 cup sugar (again, your call on the amount of sugar.)

Mix first six ingredients, add milk, then fold in beaten egg white mixture. Pour into a greased 9x13 casserole dish (for fluff) or a pie crust (for pie.)

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 stick of butter

1 cup chopped pecans

Mix together and sprinkle over the top.

Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes, then at 350 until firm about 40+ minutes.