Mama Mabel’s Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes

1 stick butter

1 ½ cups sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs, well beaten

1 cup evaporated milk

1 (9-inch) pie shell

Directions:

“Well, chile, first off let me tell you that it was might hard having to write down my sweet potato pie recipe. You see, I’m used to cookin by vibration. Haven’t used a measuring cup in years if ever at all. Now when you get your sweet potatoes, don’t get them too big. They won’t boil quite right. Get you some medium sized ones.

Now get out your big pot and boil your potatoes. While they’re boiling , get your oven started. Set it to about 350 degree. Also, get out your mixing bowl so it will be all ready when it comes time to put your spiced together.

Now while your potatoes are boiling, pick you out a nice tune or so to sing, If you can’t sing – hum. Singing and bakin go together rather nicely. Gives you your rhythm. And that’s important to bakin’.” I sings “We’ll understand it better By and By,” and “How I got Over.” Those tow good old gospel tunes works well for me. But you find what works for you.

Now when your potatoes are finished, run ‘em under some cold water for a spell so you can peel them without getting burnt. But don’t let them get cold, cause you want your potatoes to be warm enough to melt your butter for you (but that comes later on). So just cool ‘em enough so you can peel ‘em.

Now put the potatoes in your bowl, mash ‘em real good, now ‘Cause you don’t want no stringy pie.

Next, take your butter and put it in your potato and mix that in ‘till it melts.

Then take all your sugar and spice ingredients and blend them together in one of your little bowls. Last, add your vanilla in with the spices, then add it all to the potatoes. Now beat your eggs real well. (You can start singing that tune of your s a little lowder now, ‘cause your almost finished’.). Put your eggs in with all the rest of the stuff. Finally, take your evaporated milk, and start adding it a little at a time to your potato mixture. Keep an eye on it, ‘cause you don’t want it to get too juicy’. If you feel you need to add a bit more, go ahead. But be careful, now. Remember, you don’t want it too juicy.

Now pour your pie mixture into the shells, and set your pie in the oven. I usually let mine bake about 35 minutes or so. Keeping an eye on it, of course. (after you get to be an ‘old hand at this like me’, you won’t be needing to do clock watchin’ and recipes and all that stuff. It’ll just come to you.)

Gen’rally, I starts cleaning up my kitchen now, and singin’ up a storm. Wakin’ up everybody who was asleep. (See, I likes to do my bakin’ early in the morning.) Then I sits down and rests my feet for a spell. (I can’t stand on ‘em for too long nowadays. Getting’ old, I guess.) Well, baby, I hear the phone ringin’ so I got to go now. Sure hope your pie turn out alright.”