his year my grandma and I clocked more laughs
and tears on the phone than ever. If I had it
my way, our chats would happen in person
while eating homemade pie or cake, with plenty of
grandma hugs for dessert. Her empowering stories
about growing up in Fayetteville, NC, make me
dream bigger and run toward the work. She still
won’t video-chat, but this year she went old school
by writing and mailing a letter to me. (Thank you,
US Postal Service workers!) I wish I could bake one of
her famous pies for all of you, especially this lemony
custard-like squash pie. Grandma breaks all the rules
when she makes it and everything comes out fine!
—SunnySunny shares the recipe for her
on sweet potato pie: It’s made with
yellow squash!GRANDMA WILLIAMS’S SQUASH PIE
ACTIVE: 20 min l TOTAL: 1 hr 25 min (plus cooling) l MAKES: three 9-inch piese e er
Grandma Williams
and baby Sunny!
The duo in
New Jersey6 medium yellow squash, sliced into 1-inch-thick rounds
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon extract
3 large eggs
3 9-inch prepared pie shells, defrosted if frozen,
or 3 rounds refrigerated pie dough1.Put the squash in a large pot and fill with water. Bring to a
boil over medium heat and cook until tender, about 20 minutes.
Drain in a fine-mesh sieve and press the squash with the back of
a spoon to remove the excess water.
2.Preheat the oven to 350 ̊. Transfer the squash to a blender.
Add the butter and flour and blend until pureed. Add the sugar,
lemon extract and eggs. Blend until smooth. Evenly divide the
filling among the pie shells. (If using refrigerated pie dough
instead of frozen crusts, ease into three 9-inch pie pans and
crimp the edges before filling.)
3.Bake until the filling is set, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let the pies
cool to room temperature before slicing.132 FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE ●NOVEMBER 2020
16
Grandma Williams's clever citrusy take
,