The South Will Rise

I went for my last hike up High Peak yesterday.  High Peak is actually the 22nd highest peak in the Catskills but because of its profile or where it sits, it looks like the highest peak- hence the name.  Anyway, the great thing about the hike is that I can actually walk out the door and walk to the trail head, and it is a very tough but not too long great work out.  I was pretty excited to get out into the woods and enjoy the peace and quiet.  It was not quiet though.  You know why?  I will tell you- the flies were so excruciatingly bad it was almost unbearable.  It is deer fly and horse fly season up here, and because of the very mild winter, it is one of the worst fly seasons ever.  I would rather take my chances with the bear who has been coming onto our porch at least once a week than deal with the flies.  I wish the ferocious beast Nemo would scare the flies away as well as he scares the bear away, but he is too busy sleeping.  In my  anger induced delirium, I started thinking about Shoo-Fly Pie and what a great name it is (and of course how delicious), and then I started thinking that maybe the flies would leave me alone if I was just a little more polite, so here is a great recipe for “Please Shoo-Fly Pie”.  We will see if it works when we go on our hike today- we are actually climbing the highest peak called Slide Mountain- wish me luck!

Please Shoo Fly Pie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup molasses

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup boiling water

1 pinch salt

 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup butter

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 1 9 inch unbaked pie crust

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, dissolve the soda in the molasses and stir until it foams. Sir in the boiling water and pinch of salt. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, brown sugar and butter into crumbs.

Pour 1/3 of the molasses mixture into the unbaked crust. Sprinkle 1/3 of the crumbs over the molasses mixture and continue alternating layers, finishing with the crumbs on top.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the crumbs and crust are golden.

Tags: baking, cake, Catskill Mountains, dessert, High Peak, Shoo Fly Pie, Slide Mountain, southern baking, southern food