Mystery Sauce

This is from the recipe drawer of Pauline.  Well, today we have a mystery!  You can certainly tell by looking at these ingredients that this is a sauce or a gravy of some kind.  However, the main liquid ingredient is missing and there is no title on this piece of paper.

I think I mentioned before that my grandma Pauline worked for a while at the school cafeteria.  This recipe is certainly a high quantity recipe, certainly more than you would make just for your family dinner.  Of course, remembering how much food my dad, uncle, grandpa and cousins could put away, this may have just been a recipe she had for our Sunday dinners.

If anyone has any ideas about this mystery, I would certainly love to hear your thoughts.

*8 c. (what do you think this mystery ingredient is)
*16 tbsp flour
*8 tbsp parsley
*1 sp celery salt (teaspoon??)
*16 tbsp butter
*8 tbsp onion
*8 bay leaves
*8 cloves
*pepper

So that is it...just a list of ingredients and no directions.  This seems like a sauce or gravy to me because of the butter, flour and 8 c. of something??  With the onions, celery salt and parsley, my best and first guess is a poultry gravy, and using 8 c. of chicken stock/broth.  But I haven't ever heard of a bay leaf or cloves in a gravy.

Let me hear from you... can't wait to hear what you think!

Coconut Cream Pie

This is from the recipe drawer of Pat.  So today is my mom's birthday.  I wanted to honor her by posting one of her recipes today, and for some reason I have been thinking about cream pies recently.  Not that I have ever really made homemade cream pies, but I have my mom's coconut cream pie on my mind recently.

As you can tell from just looking at this recipe, it has been well used.  There are splatters and the ink is smeared.  That is a sure sign that the recipe will make an awesome dish!  Yep...  I think I need to give this a try myself and I hope that you are so moved as well.  If my memories serve me, you will not be disappointed.

* 9" baked pie shell
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 3 T. cornstarch
* 1/2 t. salt
* 3 cups milk
* 3 egg yolks, beaten
* 1 T. butter
* 1 1/2 t. vanilla

Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in same pan.  Gradually stir in milk.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.  Boil 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Gradually stir at least half of hot mixture into egg yolk.  Then blend into hot mixture in saucepan.  Boil 1 min. more, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Blend in butter and vanilla.  Pour immediately in baked pie shell.  Finish with pie meringue.  Let cool at room temp or pie may be chilled thoroughly and topped with sweetened whipped cream.
Coconut Cream Pie
Fold 3/4 cup coconut into filling.
Sprinkle 1/4 cup coconut on meringue or whipped cream.
Banana Cream Pie
Cool filling and layer 3 large banana in shell

For thicker pie use coffee cream for milk.  To serve warm, use 1 T. additional cornstarch.

Happy Birthday Mom!  Thanks for the memories!