Every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas I make Sweet Potato Pies. This is part of my family’s traditions. My mom taught me how to make the pies. My grandmother taught my mom to make the pies. My great-grandmother taught my grandmother how to make the pies. We don’t know how far back this recipe goes but I will assume the women in my family have been teaching their daughters how to make it since slavery days or shortly thereafter. At a minimum I estimate our family recipe for Sweet Potato Pie is at least 120 years old.
The recipe is not written down so I cannot share it here. It has all of the normal homemade pie ingredients, To learn it you’d have to come into my kitchen and make it with me. We’d make it together several years in a row during the holiday times. Each year you would take on more of the work and I’d do less. Eventually I would only supervise while you did it all yourself. Once you had it down pact you would have the OK to make it yourself. This is the process that I have gone through. Every year that I make the pies and they come out successful I feel so proud. I also feel connected to the women who came before me.
If there are special recipe traditions in your family I encourage you to learn them. Who cares if you are not a cook. Take the time to learn that one special recipe that carries the history of your family. Practice it until you get it right. Create memories with your mom, grandma, or whoever is willing to teach you. Laugh at yourself when you mess up. Then feel proud and connected to your people when you finally get it right.
Are there any special recipes in your family that get passed down from generation to generation? What food must you have for the holidays to keep tradition?
yaaasss for sweet potato pie. I made my mother write it down because she just likes to throw in a little of this and a little of that. I need DIRECTIONS LOL