Mock apple pies, Watergate salads and impossible pies were some of the most popular dishes on dinner tables and church dinners in the 1970s.
Yes, I know some of you don’t remember the 1970s, but some of us were just getting out into the real world then.
Pass Road Baptist Church in Gulfport, Miss., gave its members and former members a trip back in time Sunday as the church celebrated its 60th anniversary. As a little anniversary gift, Carlene McClellan and others put together a cookbooklet of “Our Favorite Recipes Pass Road Baptist Church 1970s.” McClellan and her husband, Pastor Bobby McClellan, were just beginning their youth ministry then. The McClellans are now the pastors.
As I was thumbing through the booklet, sure enough, there were mock apple pies or cracker pies, impossible pies and gelatin salads that still taste as good today.
Recently, a reader named Mary asked for a mock apple pie recipe, and 12 readers have responded with a wealth of recipes. Two recipes dominated the mail, both are made with Ritz crackers, but one uses egg whites and the other no eggs.
In Pass Road’s booklet, Mary Torjusen offered a Cracker Pie that used saltines, not Ritz crackers.
Here are the pies; perhaps Mary will tell us which one she prefers. The rest of us can enjoy a sweet trip back to the 1970s. The following pie is the one that was used on the Ritz cracker box and was sent in by Sandra Lyons, Fred Holcomb Jr. of Ocean Springs, Miss., retired Lt. Col. Robert M. Petersen, Dora Harrison, Ellen Nyberg, Ann Sharpton of Ocean Springs, Marilyn Shaw of Diamondhead and Janet Johansen, Mary Beth Greenleaf, Gerri Estabrook, Len Czecholinski and Ed Meier, all of Bradenton.
Ritz Mock Apple Pie
q Pastry for two-crust 9-inch pie
q 36 Ritz crackers, coarsely broken (about 1 3/4 cups)
q 1 3/4 cups water
q 2 cups sugar
q 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
q 2 tablespoons lemon juice
q Grated peel of one lemon
q 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
q 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
n Roll out half the pastry and line a 9-inch pie plate. Place cracker crumbs in prepared crust; set aside. Heat water, sugar and cream of tartar to a boil in saucepan over high heat; simmer for 15 minutes.
n Add lemon juice and peel; cool. Pour syrup over cracker crumbs. Dot with margarine or butter; sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll out remaining pastry; place over pie. Trim, seal and flute edges. Slit top crust to allow steam to escape.
n Bake 425 degrees 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden. Cool completely. Makes 10 servings.
“The following pie is one that is a favorite of my husband’s family,” Nyberg said.
Ritz Cracker Pie
q 20 Ritz crackers, finely crushed
q 1 teaspoon baking powder
q 3 egg whites
q 1 teaspoon vanilla
q 1 cup sugar
q 1/2 cup crushed pecans or walnuts
n Beat egg whites and baking powder until foamy. Add 1 cup of sugar gradually while beating until stiff.
n Add 20 finely crushed Ritz crackers, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts (fold in). Pour in buttered glass pie plate. Bake 325 degrees for 30 minutes.
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