Sweet Aunt Marie and Sweet Potato Pie

Eating watermelon at Aunt Alice's house
with Rebekkah (right).  ~1980.

My middle name is Marie—Sheila Marie. A name any good Southern girl can be proud of and I always have been proud of the name. Why? Because it came to me by way of my favorite aunt—Alice Marie.

Aunt Alice was just the kind of woman any young, and somewhat rebellious, girl could look up to. For all of my childhood, she remained unmarried. But best of all, she had her own house! Going to Aunt Alice’s house as a child, was akin to the wonder of going to Disney World. There were no traces of a man in the house she owned. Everything was hand-picked for a girl.

My cousin, Rebekkah, and I are less than a year apart in age so we often spent the night together. We had many great times over the years, but the best times were when we spent the night together at Aunt Alice’s house. Why? Because Aunt Alice has a small foot.

There were racks and racks of shoes in Aunt Alice’s closet and each one was just about small enough for a little girl’s foot. Close enough in size that we could do a great job imagining the shoes were our shoes. When I put those shoes on, I was transformed. I was wearing them to work as a secretary in a big office with a boss, or on an exotic date with a man that adored me… anywhere I wanted to go because, like Aunt Alice, I was GROWN and single and owned my own house.

If you get right down to it, Aunt Alice probably gets partial credit for my current occupation—cookbook author and cookbook publisher. She instilled in me, while I was still very young, a love of cookbooks. Aunt Alice also fostered my love of cooking. She makes the best sugar cookies in the world and when you are at Aunt Alice’s house, it doesn’t matter how big the mess becomes, we’ll just clean it up later.

Aunt Alice with Rebekkah.  1978

Aunt Alice gave me first cookbook – a Brand Name Recipe Book that was hardcover with a jacket. The first recipe I ever cooked from it was Porcupine Balls. At around 11 years old, I was amazed when, after following the recipe step by step, a great-tasting dish emerged. My life was changed forever. Okay, maybe that is a bit melodramatic, but, in truth, from that day forward, I had a love of cookbooks, and recipes, and yes, cooking. I still own every cookbook Aunt Alice gave me over the years and each one is still among my favorites.

Aunt Alice and I also share a love a sweet potatoes. Each year, when the season is perfect, she buys a case of sweet potatoes and I always get to share in the bounty.

There are so many delicious things to do with sweet potatoes – bake one in the oven and smother it in butter then maybe add some cinnamon and sugar on top, slice another into skinny chips and deep fry them, shred one into a cake to make it super moist, or make sweet potato casserole. My favorite way, by far, is to make a home-made sweet potato pie!

Aunt Alice and I agree that best sweet potato pies are “sweet” not spicy. I can appreciate a hot, spicy sweet potato pie on a cool, fall day sitting on the back porch with a cup of hot chocolate. But, when I’m making a sweet potato pie to please myself, I leave out the spice, and make it plenty sweet with eggs to make it rich and so that it sets to just the right texture.

When perfected, a sweet potato pie, after being allow to properly cool, should hold together when sliced. This allows for ample opportunity to sneak by, cut a very small, bite-size sliver, and savor it for that beautiful moment… before continuing on with the day.

One of our favorite customers, Lisa Luckett, shared her Sweet Potato Pie recipe with us and I’ll share it with you! Enjoy.

Sweet Potato Pie
1 cup cooked mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup canned milk
3 teaspoons flour or cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter or margarine (softened)
3 eggs
Dash salt
2 pie crusts, baked until bottoms are not soggy

Mix together all ingredients with an electric mixer. Pour into the 2 pie shells. Place on a baking sheet and place in a preheated 350 degrees oven, bake until firm (about 45 minutes or so). Yum!

Submitted by Lisa Luckett, Vicksburg, MS
Lisa says, "This is a very old recipe that my husband's grandmother, Ione Luckett Leist used for years that was given to her by a very dear friend. His grandmother is no longer with us but this recipe carries her memory on with us because it was such a favorite!"


Editor's Note:
The week Lisa sent me this recipe, my Aunt also sent me a case of sweet potatoes... what timing! So, of course, the first thing I made was this pie. It was delicious! This recipe uses less sweet potatoes than my usual recipe, so that the filling is not as thick. But it set-up beautifully and tastes great. I definitely recommend that you try this recipe. -- Sheila