Recipes of a Lifetime for the Trip of a Lifetime

If you know Yvonne then you know that she LOVES to cook.  If she's happy, she cooks.  If she's sad, she cooks.  If she's depressed, she cooks.  Yvonne just loves to cook.  It's her "thing."  That's why she's amassed a few recipes through the years.  And by a few, I mean a LOT.

In thinking of ways to raise funds for Yvonne's Trip of a Lifetime to see her mother, we thought one of the most fitting ways is to use her love of cooking.  That's why we're putting together a cookbook of some of her favorite dishes.  It's a wonderful way for her to share her love, and it's a fitting way for her to be remembered for years to come.  

Please visit the "Recipes of a Lifetime" page and let us know if you'd like to order a book when they're available, hopefully within the next 2-3 weeks.  It will contain at least 50 recipes, and all proceeds will go toward Yvonne's Trip of a Lifetime.  

So, that's where we stand.  If you would like to see what's been donated, that's all on the Thank You page.  Then there's the Amazon list, and we have several ways to donate.  

• CashApp: $thespiritlady or $mysticlady54

• Paypal: @marmeesfriends or @musiccitywhowho

• Zelle: circleofspirit@gmail.com

• Venmo: @mysticlady54

• Amazon Wish List: Yvonne’s Trip by Donna Marsh

• By Mail: Contact me for our mailing address

• Gift Cards: Kroger Co., Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Texas Roadhouse, McDonald’s, etc.

Maysville's Transparent Pie

And no, you can't see through it.

I spent my early years in a small river town in northern Kentucky. Maysville is known as the home of Rosemary Clooney, her brother Nick Clooney, who just happens to be the father of a fellow named George, and Heather French Henry, known as Miss America 2000. It’s also the home of Transparent Pie.

I know what you’re thinking. Why is it transparent? Can you see through it? I’ve only heard that joke my entire life. You aren’t the only one who thought of it, and it ceased being funny sometime around 1967.

Anyway, this pie may have come about around the same time the state of Kentucky did since it’s an old frontier recipe designed to make use of the simple, sparse ingredients a pioneer family would have on hand. The oldest written recipe I found for it dates to around 1836 and calls for only three ingredients: butter, eggs, and sugar. The result is a thin, glossy confection that actually is nearly transparent when sliced into slivers.

As the times changed, the recipe appears to have changed as well. Those who could afford it added vanilla extract. A few recipes called for vinegar, while others called for cream. When the Depression was in full swing, the cream was swapped for evaporated milk.

For whatever reason, this rich, tasty pie is hardly known outside of the northern Kentucky area, even though that George Clooney fellow professes it to be his favorite and frequently orders some from Magee’s Bakery in Maysville. He has them shipped to his homes and movie locations, so he’s doing his best to champion it around the world.

I don’t believe the Magee’s recipe uses cream, but the recipe that has been handed down in my family does.

Fern Watson Fultz, my great-grandmother, gave this recipe to her daughter-in-law Lorene Fultz, who passed it to Shirley McCormick, my mother. It is now mine, and that makes me a fourth-generation pie baker, and I’m not ashamed to claim that title.

Without further ado, here it is.

Transparent Pie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, slightly melted
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup cream (evaporated milk)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 unbaked (9-inch) pie shells, NOT deep dish

Directions:

Beat butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add cream, and mix well. Beat in eggs. Stir in flour and vanilla. Pour into pie shells. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean.