Recipe Boxes

Mason-Dixon are calling for recipe box pictures and recipes from them...so here goes.


This was my mom's recipe box when I was small. Now, to be honest, I must say that for the past thirty years or so it has been used as an address box. But when I was small, mom kept her recipes here. (By the time she died she had three long 4x6 file boxes...one metal with a sliding drawer and two out of cardboard in which she stored her recipes. One of the drawers was solely for her "Tried and True" recipes...ones she had made and liked.)

This little box fascinated me as a kid. I loved the bluebirds on the top but the really cool thing is that, if you lift the lid, the front of the box tilts forward, sliding out of the sides of the box, (I should take a picture, right?) so that you can easily flip through the cards. This seemed like magic to me.

And now the recipe. I'm sure this one was in the box and it came down from my grandmother. Although the pie is called Angelberry, it went by a different name in our house. My mom used to tell the story that she made this pie for a friend's husband's birthday. As it was sitting out, I toddled into the kitchen and said something about eating the pie. My mom explained who the pie was for and, according to her, I turned to her and said, in exceedingly mournful tones, "That's Dr. Singewald's pretty pie?" So it was always known in our house as "Dr. Singewald's Pretty Pie."*

Angelberry Pie

Butter a 9" pie pan and sprinkle it with flour.

Beat the whites of 6 eggs until they are stiff but not dry. Gradually add 1 c. sugar, 1 t. vanilla, then 2/3 c. sugar alternating with 1 T vinegar. Add all these ingredients slowly and beat well after each addition.

Shape this meringue into the pie plate, mounding high edges.

Bake at 275 degrees for 1/2 hour and at 300 degrees for 1/2 hour. Let cool completely.

Whip and sweeten 1 c. heavy cream and spread it on the cooled meringue shell. Cover with strawberries or raspberries, either fresh or frozen.
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* You know, I think I may be confusing my pie stories, here. "Dr. Singewald's Pretty Pie" may actually have been the chocolate buttercream pie that my mom often made. This one, thinking about it some more, was, I think, known as "Mrs. Perez's Pie." My mom made it for her friend, Mrs. Hess, and when she told my grandfather who is was for he didn't hear her correctly and said, "Mrs. Perez? Who's Mrs. Perez? And why are you making her a pie?"

Perhaps my brother will chime in here.