I will always remember my great grandmother by two distinguishing characteristics – her snow-white hair, and her peanut butter pie.
Even as a child, I remember very clearly the four-hour trip down to her house in Williamsburg, Kentucky where I would inevitably get carsick but feel instantly better after a warm hug and some “shuga” from Opal Mahan, the woman with the white hair. At one time it was streaked with silvery-gray, but I will always remember it as curly and white.
After hugs and kisses and unpacking, my attention would automatically turn to the refrigerator where I knew what was to come. My great grandmother, affectionately known to me as “Grandma Mahan,” always made sure my favorite dessert was ready and waiting upon our arrival. Her peanut butter pie is to this day my favorite dessert, and I have yet to taste any peanut butter pie as good as hers.
For a pie so delicious, the recipe is shockingly simple, though I never attempted to make the pie myself until much later in life.
Peanut Butter Pie ingredients:
½ cup of milk
½ cup of peanut butter
½ cup of sugar
4 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 regular container of Cool Whip, thawed
1 graham cracker crust
1-2 candy bars of choice
Directions:
Whip the milk, peanut butter, sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Fold the ingredients into the Cool Whip. Pour into a graham cracker crust. Top with shaved candy bar, traditionally a Butterfinger bar. Freeze overnight.
That’s it.
Grandma Mahan’s other famous dessert was her “white cake,” which was also waiting on her countertop as we walked in her door and sliced into approximately two minutes later. For me, the cake was an acquired taste, though I know it was the first thing my parents went for. Again, a pretty simple recipe, which still baffles me as to how something so simple could taste so delicious.
Grandma Mahan’s White Cake Ingredients:
Cake: 1 box white cake mix – bake two round cakes, according to box instructions
Cool cakes – split each into two layers
Icing:
8 oz. sour cream – not light
8 oz. thawed cool whip (This is very important. If not thawed well it will become very runny as it thaws – yuck.)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
Coconut to taste
Chopped pecans optional
Mix icing and refrigerate it while cake is baking and cooling. Icing cake, taking care to icing in between cake layers. Top with coconut and nuts.
I have yet to attempt recreating Grandma Mahan’s white cake; I have a sneaking suspicion it will not taste nearly as good as the original and I will be sorely disappointed. I have, however, made her peanut butter pie. I remember making the pie during one of her visits to Ohio and feeling so nervous that I wouldn’t recreate it perfectly – in my mind, it was akin to being asked to repaint the Sistine Chapel while Michelangelo watched over your shoulder. Of course she raved about my pie-making skills, but then again she loved me too much to say otherwise even if it tasted horribly.
My great grandmother’s desserts were staples in her life even towards the end. I remember visiting her at the Williamsburg Nursing Home the summer of 2009 and trying to jog her memory, weakened from dementia, by talking about her famous pie and cake. I don’t know if those stories ever got through to her, at that point she had trouble even recognizing me, but one of the last clear memories I have of my Grandma Mahan is her shooting me a wink as a nurse adjusted the pillow behind her head. Perhaps she was simply offering a kind gesture to someone she thought was a stranger, but I prefer to believe it was a sign – a secret between us, a fleeting signal saying though her body was failing her, she was still present in mind if even for a moment.
My great grandmother Opal Mahan died at the age of 91 on January 3, 2010. She was a member of Watson Creek Baptist Church, an honored retiree of Cumberland College with 27 years of service in the dining hall, and a commissioned Kentucky Colonel. I remember her as my great grandmother with the warmest smile and the distinct Kentucky accent who used to shuffle across her pink carpet in house slippers, who would relax in her blue recliner to watch cartoons with me instead of her stories, who would let me sleep in her bed with her when I was scared to sleep alone, and who was the best dessert-maker in the entire world.
Towards the end of her life my Grandma Mahan spoke of her daughter Charlotte who had passed before her, saying, “It’ll be sweet to see her again.” It’s the same sentiment I feel as I savor the taste of peanut butter pie melting in my mouth and let the memories wash over me – it is love, and it is sweet.
Readers: Last week we began sharing some food stories, including recipes. For the next few weeks, we want to see if you enjoy them and would like to see them become a regular addition. We wanted to name the recipe column and today reached out to our Facebook readers. We received a number of submissions but we’re still thinking so don’t hesitate to send us ideas.
