Are your pies safe? Are you sure? Have you checked them lately?
The only way to be completely certain, of course, is put them in…a pie safe.
Don’t you just love that someone crafted a piece of furniture to keep pies safe? I wish I had one of these lovely pieces of furniture. The one to the right is a reproduction made by an Amish gentleman.
Below are pie safes from the 1800s. Be still my beating heart…
I love the detail work on the tin panels.
Here are some quick historical facts on pie safes:
- Long before refrigerators and ice boxes, pie safes stored baked goods, flour and other kitchen items.
- Pie safes are constructed of wood native to that area of the country (pine was particularly popular in the South, of course), and they vary insize and shape. But they all have holes or shelves with small air holes.
- The pie cabinet (or safe) most likely originated in 16th century Europe and was introduced to the U.S. by German immigrants who came to Pennsylvania in the 1800s and soon became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch.
circa 1850
- The pie safe was generally kept as far from the wood stove as possible to keep the food safe from too much heat. In some homes, it might have been kept on the back porch next to the dry sink (to benefit from the cooler air circulating).
- Pie safes have screening or punched tin designs in the top, sides, doors, or a combination of these. The screen allowed the baked goods to have ventilation while keeping rodents, flies, and hungry Judy Millers at bay. The ventilation also helped the food stay cooler and kept it from molding as easily.
I wish this could live at my house.
- The punched tin started with each hole being punched by the craftsman individually, then moved to nails put in boards in certain patterns and used to punch the holes, then on to “punching the tin” mechanically, all at one time.
- Some of the “tin patterns” were fashioned in the likeness of well known people at the time, such as presidents of the country––or a beloved favorite author (not really).
- Some kitchen safes have tops that open upward while others have a combination of doors and drawers.
Owning an antique pie safe can mean rolling out some major dough (you knew that was coming, right, Patti Jo?), but there are many places that sell reproductions for much less.
And now…what would a post about pie safes be without a pie?
Here’s a pie I made recently, along with the recipe. Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you make it.
Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cream Pie
(oh, so good!)
1 baked 9-inch Pie Crust
1 Cup Sugar
4 Tablespoons plain flour
Dash of Salt
3 Tablespoons Baking Cocoa
2 Cups Milk
1/3 cup Milk
3 Eggs, Separated (yolks well beaten, keep the whites for the meringue)
1 Tsp Vanilla
1 Tablespoon Butter
Bake pie crust till golden brown (according to your recipe or instructions on the package). Prick the bottom and sides (and use pie weights, if you want) to keep the crust from shrinking.
Heat 2 cups milk to almost boiling. Mix sugar, flour, salt, and cocoa. Stir dry mixture into 1/3 cup cold milk until moistened. Add beaten egg yolks. Add entire mixture to hot milk and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and the butter. Remove from burner and let cool while you prepare the meringue. Oh yum! Honestly, this pudding is good enough to eat right now. Straight from the pan!
Basic Meringue:
3 egg whites (from above)
Dash of salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
6 Tablespoons sugar
Beat egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until stiff but not dry. Gradually add sugar; beat after each addition until sugar is partially dissolved. Add pudding to cooled pie shell and top with meringue making sure the meringue touches the sides of the pie crust to prevent shrinking. Broil in 325 degree oven until lightly golden brown (5-10 minutes).
I also baked two Buttermilk Pies for my son’s birthday recently. Oh, I love making that pie. Pure comfort and joy with every stir.
So tell me, do you own a pie safe? I’d love to hear about it. And see it (please post a pic on my FB page). What’s the last kind of pie you ate and/or baked? Have a favorite?
Tammy
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Oh, my! You were in top form when you wrote this post, Ms. Alexander! I read it at 5 a.m. while my hubby still slept and I literally LOL when I came to the “hungry Judy Millers” line, and again at Patti Jo’s line. Almost woke hubby up!
The last pie I ate was a delicious homemade banana cream our daughter’s friend made. If I could choose any pie at all, it would probably be a Mennonite peanut butter cream pie. Mmmmm!
Oh yum, that pie sounds scrumptious, Deb. The Mennonite PBCP! Do you have a recipe?
And glad you got some laughs. : )
I loved reading the history of pie safes! I am always eager to learn about traditions such as this and how they began. The last pie I made was for Easter….a lemon cream pie with whipped cream. So delicious! Thank you for sharing!
I do not own a pie safe but would love to have an original one. The last pie I can remember eating was pumpkin at Thanksgiving. My favorite pie is French Coconut. Coconut Cream is my second favorite.
Oh I love pumpkin pie, Amanda. In fact, two years ago I ended up eating an entire pumpkin pie myself. And I didn’t even realize it until my family said they hadn’t had any. Whoopsie! : } French Coconut…Yum. I haven’t made that in a while. And it just went on the list! Thanks for sharing.
Great post, Tammy–but VERY bad for my waistline! If I had a pie safe I would need to put a lock on it to avoid temptation.
LOL, Lynn. How ’bout some ice cream instead? : )
What Deb said above. LOL Such a fun post!
I think the last pie I made was your infamous Creamy Praline Pecan Pie. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it!
Wish we could have some pie together!
I’d LOVE that, Linda! Surely our paths will cross sometime this year. Sure hope so, babe!
Nothing original here after reading the other comments. Fun post! Especially keeping out the “Judy Miller’s.” I’m sure she will take no small amount of flak from that discovery. We probably could all insert a name in place of hers. – including mine? I don’t bake pies very often any more, but just 2 weeks ago my son requested one for his 32nd birthday – Lemon Meringue!
LOL, Sandy. Thanks for the grins. And oh, a good Lemon Meringue…. Delish! : )
I loved this post on pie safes. When I was growing up (many years ago) whenever we went to grandma and grandpas I noticed that she had what they called a dumb waiter . She would keep her milk and butter and other things needing to be kept cold in that. You could pull it up from the floor and then push it back down below when done. The coolness of the basement kept things cool.
At home we had an old ice box. Looks like small refrigerator. There was a place to store big chunk of ice or ice block as they called it. There was a shelf or two in there for food. Mom never used it unless power went out. Good thing to have as a backup.
Love your pie recipe. Also have been a sucker for pie of any kind. Especially chocolate pie. Thanks.
LOVED reading your post, Shirley. You described everything so well, I saw it all. Wonderful! I love making this chocolate pie. It’s just plain comforting. Wish we could all make pies together then have a girl’s movie night! 😉
That’s an idea! Pie and movies.
my grandmother had a pie safe but it was destroryed in a fire! Last pie I made was a sugarfree peach pie
Oh so sorry about your grandmother’s pie safe, Sheila. And a SF Peach Pie… Did you use Stevia? Splenda? Inquiring minds and all… : )
No pie safes-here. No pie safe here, either. Not from my hubby! LOL
ROFLOL, Sandy. So funny! ; )
Oh Tammy….only YOU could take something like a pie safe and make a delightful blog post about it!! Loved this!!
I had to stop drooling over the choc. pie photo before I could comment though – – YUM!!
Giggling over the “hungry Judy Millers” comment – – and loved the pun you made – – HAHAHA!! I hadn’t even thought of that (I must be getting a bit “flaky”). 😉
Seriously, I do think a pie safe would be a lovely piece to have – – next time I browse antiques I’ll have to be sure and look for one! 🙂
Hugs, Patti Jo
One point to Patti Jo for “flaky!” LOL. Love that. You’re the Queen of Puns, so every time I think of one or hear one, I think of YOU! As you’re browsing in those antiques, look for me one too! ; )
Poor Judy. I must confess that I, too, got a chuckle out of seeing her name in the post.
I didn’t grow up in a household with a pie safe, but that was mostly due to the fact that I was born in 1959 (after pie safes were a necessity) and because I grew up on a dairy farm in a household with five kids. Pies were a luxury and rarely lasted long enough to make a pie safe (or any other storage device) necessary!
I do wonder if any of my grand parents had one.
Five kids… No, I doubt a pie lasted long with all those hungry mouths. : ) Neat that you grew up on a dairy farm, Carrie. I used to spend two weeks in the summer with my Aunt Jenny and Uncle Leonard and they had milk cows (among other animals), and it was such a treat for this Atlanta gal to milk the cows (or put those automatic milkers on, once they got those). My Granny Gattis had a pie safe. Sure wish I had it! Maybe someday I’ll run across one.
Did someone say PIES, or was that a dream? While I can attest to the fact that I know my way around a good pie–all that’s required is a fork or spoon to dig in–I’m still waiting for one of those chocolate pies, and not just the recipe. I’ve been sitting here all morning with my fork in hand, but no one has appeared at the door bearing a pie. As for favorites, if it’s got a crust and it’s anywhere in sight, it’s my favorite! Listen, folks, there’s no need for a pie safe for your pies. Just invite me over and I’ll make sure you don’t ‘save’ them. 🙂
LOL! Hey there, Miss Judy. What a treat to have you join us! And LOL at your “save” comment. That’s how it is with me too. Oh, I just love pies. Making AND eating them. Hugs to you, friend.
Lovely article on a beautiful piece of furniture. Honestly, it would be a waste of space in my house (other than the beauty of it) because pies never last long around here. Keeping them “safe” isn’t really an option. I’m not much of a pie person myself. I much prefer cakes and cobblers. My favorite pie-shaped dessert is cheesecake. Almost any flavor is delicious to me.
That pie you made is beautiful. What’s your trick for such pretty meringue?
Blessings,
Andrea
The key to meringue is to make sure your bowl is chilled and that there’s not a hint of yolk in the egg whites. Not even a speck. Then cream of tartar. It’s magic. Then not underbeating or overbeating. I love making meringue. So fluffy and white. Then “peaking” it on the pie before you slip it back into the oven. And oh, cheesecake, Andrea. I love that too. Honestly, there’s really not a dessert I don’t like, unfortunately. And making cheesecake is fun too. Love those spring pans.
Thanks for the tips, Tammy! I’ll have to tell my mom and see if that’s what she does too. She’s the pie-baker in our family. Although, I think she and my dad and sis would say that I’m the dessert maker. I love trying out new dessert recipes!
Speaking of spring pans… I once put the bottom in upside down when baking layers for a chocolate fudge cake. Let’s just say there was a bit of a mess left in the oven. And I forgot about it. So the next time I went to make pizza, my fire alarm went off. It’s high up on the wall, so I had to call my dad into the room to come and unhook the thing. The whole time I was thinking, “Why is this stupid thing going off? I still have three minutes before my pizza’s cooked through!” Only after that blaring beep ceased and my dad climbed off the ladder did I realize there was now some burnt chocolate cake residue still in the oven that I’d have to scrub clean once the rack cooled. Now I always double-check that I have my spring pans assembled correctly.
My hubby loves cream pies! Thank you for sharing the recipe. Every time we go antiquing or to local flea markets I look at the pie safes. I would love to have one in my home 🙂
I love antiquing too, Lori. Such fun rummaging through things and imagining what life a certain piece of furniture has had. 🙂
Thank you for sharing that delicious recipe. Chocolate cream pie is my favorite but I make a lot of peanut butter pies for my family.
Connie, I love PB Pie too. I make one that’s from Weight Watchers. I got the recipe from Stacey Sanders Daniel (waving to you, Stacey), and it’s sooo good. Kept in the freezer. Do you have a favorite peanut butter pie recipe? And if yes, do you share? : )
AUGH chocolate cream pie – now I have a serious craving for a piece of that! and I am out of cocoa powder. I was sure I had a full box but couldn’t find it the other day when I was making a chocolate peanut butter pie, so it turned into a peanut butter/chocolate chip pie. I gotta go grocery shopping! Never had a pie safe in my family.
My Peanut Butter pie recipe(s) just uses “crumbles” made by mixing approximately equal amounts of Peanut butter and powdered sugar. Such as 1/4 cup PB and 1/4 cup powdered sugar, mix with a fork until you have crumbles that you can scatter on the bottom of a pie crust – I prefer a pastry crust, but can use a graham cracker crust. Just use about a third of the crumbles. Then layer either a chocolate pudding or vanilla pudding on top of that. More crumbles scattered on top of that. Then top with cool whip and remaining crumbles on top of that. Easy way: use pudding mix or canned pudding; Delicious way: make cooked pudding/pie filling such as the one on top of this page. 🙂 Mine is similar to it except it uses some cornstarch and less flour.
My daughter has a recipe for Strawberry Glacè Pie made with fresh strawberries that is my next favorite. well, I probably have a whole list of favorite pies and Cheesecake is also at the top of list. oh, my, just say sweets.
I love the old pieces. One of these would be fun!