Aileen's Graham Cracker Pie

When I was a little girl, spending my summers and time after school at “At-een’s” house, I saw her and Granny jot down numerous recipes onto scraps of paper pulled from notepads, purses, Granny’s address book, and Aileen’s end table mystery drawer. These scraps of paper then disappeared from my consciousness, and into my tummy went livermush, dumplings, cobbler, custards, and graham cracker pies.

I had forgotten about these scraps until Granny and Papa had passed and Aileen moved out of her house and into an assisted living home. This is when I discovered the recipe drawer and the history that these tiny torn papers held. Every sheet was like a page pulled from the annals of time, from our family’s own personal history book – reminding me of stories from my childhood and revealing things to me about the people I loved and their far-away lives – things that came long before me. There were layers to this drawer, to what I found on each of those cards and papers – meaning stacked liked a three-tiered German chocolate cake with coconut icing holding the middles together, and I was cutting down through it.

I spent a lot of time going through everything I pulled from that drawer and turned it all into a family recipe and recollection book several years ago. I'll share some of it with you here, starting with this recipe for Graham Cracker Pie.

Graham Cracker Pie is still my favorite. It’s really just a vanilla cream pie, but it came to be known as “Graham Cracker Pie” because, to me, that was what it was all about – the graham cracker crust. Aileen would make me extra graham cracker crumbs and sugar to eat with a spoon and have it ready for me when I got off the school bus at her house.

Me and Aileen

This is the recipe just as it was written...

CRUST

1 bx. craham crackers,crushed

¾ stick margarine, melted

½ c. sugar, more to taste

Bake crust at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

FILLING

1 lrg. can milk

3 egg yolks

1 c. sugar

2 T. flour

2 T. margarine, melted

2 t. vanilla

Cook until thick.

MERINGUE

2 T. sugar for each egg

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.