Shoofly pie is a molasses pie considered traditional among the Pennsylvania Dutch and also known in Southern cooking. The more common version of the recipe - sometimes known as “Wet bottom” - consists of a layer of sweet, gooey molasses beneath a crumb topping sometimes compared to that of a coffee cake. In contrast, a “dry bottom” shoofly pie is more thoroghly mixed into a cake-like consistancy.
The desert has earned quite a reputation in the “Dutch Country” of Lancaster County in Pennsylvania, where it’s distinctive flavor and texture is quite alluring to tourists.
The term “shoofly” is commonly thought to have been derived from the fact that molasses will attract flies and they must constantly be “shooed” away.
Growing up in Reading PA in the early fifties was a gastro… food lovers delight.
Canadianpacific nailed it on the shoofly pie and you might google up a recipe. Now just for today we’ll eat backwards, but don’t tell your mom.
Chow-chow: pickled veggies that wikipedia calls a relish but I remember as something served out of a mason jar as is and cold. Wiki reminded me of piccalilli, the similar Italian relish and a wonderful (pronounce it) word I’d forgotten. Never could stand chow-chow and once I’d discovered 3-bean salad it was sayonara to the former.
Ring balogna: aka ring baloney is another thing my mom loads me up with. My friends here in DC love it. I’ve always loved to gnaw on them. The casings were better years ago and I’m not sure what I’m eating today is OK to eat, but I do.
Kielbasa: our Polish neighbors introduced this sausage to us. Yum! We were at a woodworking show in Fort Washington PA a few years back and not exhibiting for once. Late in the day I discovered a Polish sausage stand in the back of the hall and they were reducing prices on their sandwiches and they were gooooood! The supply I bought lasted 3 days and nearly incapacitated me.
Bouillabaisse: my mother was a French (Marseilles) war bride. Having lived through their Depression and then the Vichy years with ersatz sugar, coffee and a lot of other stuff. When my father brought her to the States it was “goodbye to the Old World”. Hamburgers and chicken for us kids and nylon stockings for her. The Army sent me to Germany in 1966 and a pal and I went to Paris, Marseilles and Nice for two weeks. Around Marseilles’ Old Port there were dozens of little restaurants, each serving their own take (red, brown, sort of like Italy) of bouillabaisse and believe me, we sampled nearly all of them. And the Provence vegetables and fruits!!! We would cut up tomatoes and peaches very slowly just to enjoy the taste bud sensations. Ask D
Thanks for all the comments of the various food stuffs…I’ve heard of some of the above described but probably would eat very little of them…Kind of a sneakin’ eater. Not as bad as I was as a youngster but really a meat and some other stuff…kind of guy. Not even fond of potatoes as such…Love sweet potatoes though. And of course I eat most forms of white potatoes, but there is other stuff I like better. In sweet potatoes, expecially the “Jersey” ones. {yellow inside}. Put lots of butter to them and yes, that is good eating…!
Rix, as I think you know, I’m a Pennsylvania fellow too but 150 or so miles west of the Lancaster area…{Somerset Co.}.
Pigs in the blanket…yes Ponhaus…no Pickled eggs…yes Blind robins…Yes {ha} Pickled pigs feet…no
2 large orders of hot chocolate please.csx was quite interesting today.lots of bnsf power around.Cw we are ready to help with the pizzas.matts got his apron and chefs hat on.
In New York City didn’t the street sellers used to offer roasted sweet potatoes with butter slathered in there and wrapped up in a piece of newspaper. Or was that E.L.Doctorow?
Or just me thinking about a treat in the cold city canyons?
Bouillabaisse was also cool because you’d sometimes get the head of the fish in the chowder and could actually eat the eyeballs. If you want a full life, you wouldn’t want to miss that.
Ray, I just realized there were no sand tarts in my family’s usual haunts this Christmas. I like them a little chewy i.e. right out of the oven. My walnut rations for a year, and they never showed up. I guess it’s time for a family conversation.
I don’t know what sand tarts are, that is one that I’ve never heard of before.
I keep a couple bottles of molasses in my kitchen cupboard, and about the only thing I use it or is to make molasses-sugar cookies with. These are real good, kind of like a ginger snap, only soft and chewy. They do harden up a bit if left in the cookie jar long enough.
I once tried molasses as a substitute for pancake syrup on buttermilk waffles, and YUCK!!, it was not a good combination.
Ray, except for the walnut on top and the cinnamon baked in, I don’t know what goes into the sugary batter. They come out of the the oven very thin and about 2-1/2" diameter and if I had a pile of them nearby I’d eat 'em all right now!
I’ll have to google molasses now because I can’t remember what exactly it/they is/are. And while we’re at it what are sugar beets about. You see sugar beet loaders in TRAINS and Model Railroader but I wonder if I’ve ever eaten one.
My grandmother used to boil eggs in a red onion skin broth for Easter, giving them a rich red/brown color and a very slight onion taste. They were great! The rest of the eggs we’d decorate but no one in our family would hollow them out and hang them on a tree or place them in a bowl. Other families did that, and the local historical society always had an Easter display
We had temps almost identical to Ray’s this morning. -11 ambient and w/c of -25/-30 range. Now it’s “up” to -6 ambient and w/c of -15. Hold the phone and I’ll get my shorts…
Actually I’m keeping busy by helping a friend at his tow truck business. 29 jumpstarts and 12 tows so far today. Supposed to get -16 tonight. I think I’ll be busy!
Ray…Those molasses cookies are great. We purchase them here at one of our big box stores…{Meijer’s}, and use their brand too…They are excellent. Soft and chewy, etc…And by the way, if the cookies get hard {and you want them soft}, in the cookie jar, add a piece of bread to the container and the moisture transfers to the cookies, and bingo…They’re soft again.
Rix - You’ve probably eaten plenty of sugar beets. The sugar that comes from sugar beets and that that comes from sugar cane are virtually identical.
I used to use molasses to make the Dalmatian’s treats (he’s allergic to wheat, and the treats use oat flour instead), but lately I’ve been going with pancake syrup. Still adds to the flavor and smell (along with the peanut butter), but isn’t quite as sticky to handle. Molasses is quite pungent.
I don’t really care for ring balogna. My memory of it is fried, with mashed potatoes. Just leaves an unpleasant taste in my mouth. On the other hand, Croghan balogna, a local delicacy here, is good stuff. It’s sort of a smoked summer sausage.
Train show in at Utica Union Station tomorrow. Weather permitting, I’ll make the trip, but the forecast is for Lake Effect Snow through Monday AM, so I’ll be watching the radar carefully. Short of going by way of Lake Placid, I have to go through the “Belt” to get there.
Joe and Matt, thanks for all your help with the pizzas for tonight. Here’s the list:
Canadian bacon
Cheese
Pepperoni/mushroom
Goetta
Hawaiian
Pepperoni/sausage/onion
Supreme
Anchovie
Calzones
You two were a great big help making the pizzas, and baking them. Thank you both so very much!
Everything’s on the warmer bar. And with my helpers today, there’s an extra large pizza of each of the eight kinds on tonight’s menu. And there’s plenty of hot chocolate for everyone.
You all have a terrific evening, by staying warm, and fill up on the pizzas!
Since a few of us have talked about molasses today, I thought I would share my recipe for molasses/sugar cookies.
1 1/2 C. Shortening - MELTED (I use the stick form of shortening from Crisco, the yellow variety that resembles butter, it makes for a better cookie)
2 C. Granulated Sugar
1/2 C. Molasses (Brer Rabbit Brand)
2 Large Eggs
C. Flour
1/2 Tsp. Salt ( I would argue that salt is not necessary in a lot of cookie recipes, and because so many people have high blood pressure, I leave it out and you would not be able to taste the difference.)
2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tsp. Ginger
Form dough into ping-pong sized balls, roll them in sugar before baking.
hot chocolate cofffee and orange juice are ready to go.we also have waffles bacon and eggs too.just let the dog back in and it is cold inside.Dan cold can cause problems.Its going to take a little longer for the q509 and 500 to pump air into the cars in defiance yard today.
Good Sunday morning. Nice and cold here in Lousville: temp is 8 degrees, with a wind chill of -6. Joe, thanks for making the hot chocolate, coffee, juice and fixing breakfast! Bacon, eggs and waffles sound pretty good this morning!
Molasses is made from a grass called sorghum (pronounced sor-gum). Especially in the south, you’ll hear it referred to as sorghum molasses.
How does Italian spaghetti and garlic bread sound for Sunday Dinner today? That’s about all my brain can come up with this morning. If not that, what would you all like to have today?
You all stay in if you can, today, and stay warm as well as staying safe!!
