If you ever want to get a hankering to make pies, see the movie “Waitress.”

I watched the entire thing thinking of nothing but baking. Keri Russell did a pretty good southern accent, too. (Thank you Keri, and bless your heart.) This is a point of contention among southerners because, all too often, actors and actresses play a southern character and have the most exaggerated accent, with a drawl so deep in their throats you wonder how they can even swallow.

So, you have folks from all over stumbling over a pseudo-southern accent on the big screen but when it comes time to hear the real thing, the same folks act like it’s a foreign tongue. Case in point, Diane Sawyer’s special on Appalachia called, “Children of the Mountains,” which aired a few months back. Me and several of my southern “Twitter” friends watched with eyes bugged out as subtitles were displayed every time a southerner spoke. My goodness! I’ve heard accents from other places that were every bit as thick as a southerner’s and they’ve never been subtitled.

I sure am glad Diane’s team wasn’t around when they were putting together “Gone With the Wind.” Bless their hearts.

Shoofly Pie is a pie I’ve always wanted to make. This past weekend, we took a day off to gallivant around and have some fun. We ended up in Belvedere, Tenn., one of my favorite places to buy grits. (Note to Mrs. Hernandez: I brought you back some.)

Afterward, we went to my other favorite place in Belvedere – The Swiss Pantry. This is a Mennonite-owned bakery and small grocery that carries baked goods, breads and more delights than you can shake a stick at. The people who run it are awfully nice, too.

We left there with whoopee pies, several dried ingredients you just can’t get elsewhere, some fresh cheese and two cups of their own sourdough starter. That starter smells so good! I also left there with the resolution that I was gonna finally get around to making a Shoofly Pie using my son’s school bake sale as the grand excuse.

Now, if you’re not a molasses person, this pie won’t be for you. Me, I’m a molasses person. I find that the older I get the more I crave and adore the rich strong flavor of deep, dark molasses. Adding to the fact that I’m a brown sugar lover and those are the two primary ingredients in a Shoofly Pie, I can’t imagine not loving it.

Hopefully, someone at the school bake sale will love it, too.





Shoofly Pie



1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup dark-brown sugar

6 tablespoons margarine or butter, cut into slices

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup molasses

1 1/8 cup hot tap water

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 pie shells, baked





Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Stir flour and sugar together. Cut butter in with a fork until well incorporated. In large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add molasses and blend well. Stir baking soda into hot water until dissolved; add to molasses mixture and beat with an electric mixer until well blended. Stir in half of dry mixture, mix well. Pour into two prepared crusts. Top with remaining crumb mixture. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes or until set (no longer jiggly in the center).





Christy Jordan publishes SouthernPlate.com, a Web site dedicated to teaching classic southern dishes and quick and easy family favorites. Her columns can be seen in various magazines and on-line publications. Her cooking segments are shown at 5 p.m. Wednesdays on WAAY-TV, Channel 31.