Not only is pie an American favorite, a very popular filling is rhubarb, a native American plant sometimes referred to as the pie plant. If you have never tasted this tart-red delight, here’s a good way to begin.

1-1/2 cups of sugar
3 tablespoons of softened butter
3 tablespoons of flour
2 eggs, beaten
½ teaspoon of nutmeg
2 cups of fresh rhubarb cut into small pieces
(You can use frozen rhubarb – it’s already cut)
Pinch of salt

Use purchased pie crust (supermarket variety-you need two crusts) or make your favorite homemade pie crust recipe for a double crust. Cut rhubarb into small pieces and place into a 9-inch pie tin lined with pastry. Blend together sugar, flour, nutmeg, salt and butter. Add beaten eggs and beat until smooth.

Pour mixture over rhubarb. Cover with top crust, cutting a small hole in the center and several slits around the pie. (Beginners: this lets steam escape during the baking.)

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, reduce to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes longer. Cool. Tastes best eaten at room temperature. Try it with a large scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream. Pies have been with us since the country’s founding. Here is a heritage pie recipe, circa 1855. This is a wonderful lemon-apple custard pie. You won’t find this everywhere!

5 unpeeled apples, cored and cut into wedges. Braeburn is a good selection.
Do not use green skinned apples.
¼ cup of water
Juice and zest of 1 lemon

In a saucepan, over medium-high heat, bring the apples in the ¼ cup of water to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook until apples become soft – about 20 minutes. Cool. Press the apples and liquid through a food mill into a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and zest. Set aside. Note: leaving the peels on produces a pinkish colored applesauce. Also, there is no added sugar. This obviously will produce the best tasting sauce. Don’t have a food mill? You can puree the apples in a food processor. If you cannot do this step, you can purchase unsweetened, organic applesauce. You will need about 1-1/2 cups. Don’t forget to add the lemon juice and zest.

One 9-inch unbaked piecrust. Use your own recipe or buy the one you like best from the store. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

5 eggs, beaten (if using jumbo eggs, reduce to 4)
2/3 cup each sugar and heavy cream
1 or 2 tablespoons of brandy (optional) OR 1 teaspoon of vanilla
Beat the eggs and sugar in a medium bowl until just well mixed. (Note: if you over-beat the eggs, you will increase the volume and have more filling than the pie pan will hold.)

Stir in the cream and brandy or vanilla. Fold the egg mixture into the applesauce mixture and pour into the piecrust. Bake until filling is well set, about 1 hour or until a knife inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean.

Cool and serve either at room temperature or chilled.

Special Note: Want to save some calories? Omit the crust. Prepare 8 custard cups (or heat-proof small bowls) by buttering the bowls and dusting with sugar. Pour in the custard mixture. Set these bowls in a pan and add hot water to about half way up the little bowls. Bake these for about 40 minutes, testing with a knife. These might even be better than the pie since you can eat two – no crust!

Another old-fashioned American favorite is that campfire treat, the S’more. Here is a delicious way to have your pie and eat it, too!

1 prebaked 9- or 10-inch graham cracker crust
½ pint of heavy cream
1 bag (11.5 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 jars of marshmallow cream

Place chips and cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high for 2-4 minutes or until the cream is warm and the chips start to melt. Stir together until the mixture is a uniform color. Pour the chocolate mixture in the graham cracker crust and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or until ready to serve.

When ready to serve, spoon marshmallow cream over the chocolate cream. You will need both jars of the marshmallow cream to do this. After the marshmallow cream has covered the entire visible chocolate cream, place the pie in the oven to broil the top. Carefully broil the top of the marshmallow cream to your taste. Best keep your eye on the broiling – it goes fast. Slice, serve and enjoy the sinfully sweet pie.

Here’s something that can be considered a pie, a cobbler, a slump or the even older word, a buckle. You can use any fruit in season or from the backyard. Try a combination of fruits selecting from those grouped together by quantity so they all get done at the same time.

6 cups of fruit – sliced apples, peaches, halved apricots or plums. You can add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon or ½ teaspoon of nutmeg to the sugar to add flavor to these fruits. Or 5 cups of pineapple, strawberries (cut or whole), blueberries, blackberries or pitted cherries (frozen fruit from this category works well). Toss fruit with ¾ cup of tapioca (not the pudding).

1 to 1-1/2 cups of sugar
¼ teaspoon of salt (this encourages the fruit to release its juices)
2 tablespoons of softened butter
Pastry for a single pie crust

In either a 9-inch square glass pan or a deep dish pie pan, arrange layers of fruit and cover with sugar. Dot with the softened butter. Place pastry over the fruit. You may have to re-roll store bought pastry to fit a square pan. The pastry should be about 1-inch larger than the dish. Turn edges of the pastry under and press down on the edge of the dish to seal. If the crust is hanging over the edge of the pan, trim away the excess. Cut several slits in the pastry to release the steam. Bake in a 425-degree oven for 35 – 45 minutes.

In the days of the Cleaver family, gelatin based pies were extremely popular. Here’s a tasty example.

1 package of strawberry flavored gelatin
1 cup of hot water
½ cup of sugar
1 pint of strawberries, washed and sliced
½ cup of heavy cream, whipped
1 9-inch pie shell, baked or one made from cookie crumbs (Oreos would be terrific)

Dissolve the gelatin in the hot water. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar with the berries. Crush (use a potato masher or the adventurous can use their fingers) and let stand for 15 minutes. Drain the strawberries and add the liquid to the gelatin mixture. Chill gelatin mixture until it begins to thicken. Fold the whipped cream into the berries and then fold this mixture into the semi-soft gelatin. Pour fruit/cream/gelatin mixture into a baked pastry shell or crumb shell. Chill until fully set. Garnish with additional whipped cream if desired.

All recipes have been tested, tasted and enjoyed by the writer.
No ingredients have been omitted.
Questions or comments? Contact Carole Brennan at wine@longbeachmagazine.com.