Midwest Pie: Recipes That Shaped a Region

by Meredith Pangrace (Editor), Phoebe Mogharei (Introduction)

Overview

A historical tour of midwestern pies that recalls when recipes were shared through faded note cards and junior league cookbooks.
 
New England may say it’s the “Great American Pie Belt,” but pie has a rich and varied history in the American Midwest too. Stop by any church or community event in the heartland today and you’re likely to see as many types of pie on the dessert table as there are people who made them.
 
Midwest Pie highlights the treats, both sweet and savory, that have come to define this region. Here, you’ll learn about bean pie’s origins in the Nation of Islam, the popularity of “desperation pies” during the Depression, how Michigan miners ate lunch “pasties," and much more. Full of accessible instructions and helpful sidebars, you’ll learn the stories behind a variety of pies, including:

• Hoosier Pie
• Schnitz Pie
• Ohio Buckeye Pie
• Sawdust Pie
• Runza 

Midwest Pie is the perfect collection for any home chef looking to learn more about the diversity and deliciousness of one of the region’s most enduring culinary contributions.
 
“Recipes spa[n] ‘old classic’ pies such as funeral and sawdust; regional originals like the Nation of Islam’s bean pie and Indiana’s sugar cream Hoosier pie; ‘desperation pies’ that relied on pantry staples when times were tough (chess, shoofly, mock apple); midwestern produce pies (persimmon chiffon); and retro relics (cottage cheese, chocolate rum).” —Chicago Reader
 
“[An] unpretentious little book that will summon up old memories for some and introduce others to an era when seasonality often dictated what sort of pie might show up on the dinner table.” —Booklist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781953368638
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	05/01/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	156
File size:	19 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Meredith Pangrace is a designer and food enthusiast from Cleveland, Ohio. She is the editor of Rust Belt Vegan Kitchen and has designed books for Belt Publishing since 2013. Phoebe Mogharei is Belt Publishing’s

Table of Contents

Introduction

Editor’s Note

A Brief Introduction on Pie Crusts . . .

Old Classics

Angel Pie

Bob Andy Pie

Butterscotch Pie

Funeral Pie

Impossible Pie 

Millionaire Pie 

Sawdust Pie

Schnitz Pie 

Speedy Custard Pie

Regional Favorites

Door County Belgian Prune Pie

Illinois Pumpkin Pie 

Michigan Cherry Pie 

Navy Bean Pie 

Ohio Buckeye Pie 

Shaker Lemon Pie

Sour Cream Raisin Pie

Win Schuler’s Grasshopper Pie  

“Desperation” Pies

Buttermilk Pie

Chess Pie 

Mock Apple (Ritz Cracker) Pie

Shoofly Pie

Sugar Milk Pie

Vinegar Pie

Hoosier Pie (Indiana Sugar Cream Pie)

Midwestern Ingredients

All-American Apple Pie

Black Walnut Chocolate Pie 

Bluebarb Pie

Blueberry Cream Pie

Chokecherry Pie

Concord Grape Pie

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Manoomin (Wild Rice) Pie 

Maple Syrup Pie 

Peach Polka-Dot Pie

Pecan Oatmeal Pie

Persimmon Chiffon Pie

Rhubarb Custard Pie

Zucchini Pie 

Retro Favorites

Banana Cream Pie

Chocolate Marshmallow Pie

Chocolate Rum Pie

Cottage Cheese Pie

Cranberry Velvet Pie

Heavenly Fluff Pie

Pineapple Refrigerator Pie

Self-Frosting Lemon Pie

Sky-High Strawberry Pie

Star-Spangled Cherry Pie

Handheld Pies

Amish Fry Pie

Runza

UP (Upper Peninsula) Pasty

About the Authors

Editorial Reviews

05/15/2023

Pangrace (Rust Belt Vegan Kitchen) culls 56 pies from family recipes and community cookbooks for a slim collection that works better as a historical archive than as guidance for home bakers. Recipes have been left largely intact on purpose; the sparse ingredients and brief instructions in many reflect their hardscrabble origins, from Amish farm life to the Great Depression. An informative introduction from Belt Publishing’s publicity director Phoebe Mogharei traces the rise of pie in the Midwest with waves of immigration and changing economic times. Chapters encompass “Desperation” pies, which include a recipe taken from a package of Ritz crackers; pies using local Midwestern ingredients, including black walnut and chokecherry; and “Retro Favorites,” including a “self-frosting” lemon pie. Pangrace’s brief and inconsistent intros provide origin stories for some recipes (“Shoofly Pie,” for example, was invented by the Pennsylvania Dutch), but others, like the intriguingly named “Millionaire Pie,” go unexplained. Most glaringly, the flavor descriptions are too sparse and vague to tell whether the pies are worth baking: vinegar pie is pronounced “surprisingly delicious”; the clove and cinnamon that spice a custard pie make it “unique”; and cottage cheese pie is a “specialty of grandmothers”—but should it be attempted? This has niche appeal, but not much to entice the average home baker. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"On the heels of 2021's Rust Belt Vegan Kitchen, Belt's creative director tackles a more ubiquitous and crowd-pleasing subject, with recipes spanning old classic pies such as funeral and sawdust; regional originals like the Nation of Islam's bean pie and Indiana's sugar cream Hoosier pie; desperation pies that relied on pantry staples when times were tough (chess, shoofly, mock apple); midwestern produce pies (persimmon chiffon); and retro relics (cottage cheese, chocolate rum)."
—Mike Sula, Chicago Reader

"Midwest Pie is mostly a recipe book beginning with gentle instructions for pie dough (don't expect a perfect crust on your first try) followed by a profusion of delicious-sounding pie fillings."
—David Luhrssen, Shepherd Express

"On the heels of 2021's Rust Belt Vegan Kitchen, Belt's creative director tackles a more ubiquitous and crowd-pleasing subject, with recipes spanning old classic pies such as funeral and sawdust; regional originals like the Nation of Islam's bean pie and Indiana's sugar cream Hoosier pie; desperation pies that relied on pantry staples when times were tough (chess, shoofly, mock apple); midwestern produce pies (persimmon chiffon); and retro relics (cottage cheese, chocolate rum)."
—Mike Sula, Chicago Reader

"Midwest Pie is mostly a recipe book beginning with gentle instructions for pie dough (don't expect a perfect crust on your first try) followed by a profusion of delicious-sounding pie fillings."
—David Luhrssen, Shepherd Express

From the Publisher