Fellow author and friend Shelia Stovall shares a family recipe from her novel with us today. Welcome to Historical Nibbles, Shelia!

by Shelia Stovall

Thank you, Sandra, for the opportunity to share my recipe for Southern Fried Blackberry pies. 

According to Wikipedia, fried pies were known as “Crab Lanterns” in the American South. This term dates back to at least 1770. It may originate from crabapple pies that had slits for ventilation, thus resembling a lantern.

In my book, Every Window Filled with Light, Mrs. Dot, the owner of Dot’s Deluxe Diner, features a different flavor of fried fruit pie each week. The idea to do this in my novel came to me while I waited in line at Habegger’s Amish Market. My mouth watered as I stared at their fried pie display. In Every Window Filled with Light, blackberry is Pastor Bob’s favorite fried pie. So, I’m sharing my mom’s recipe for Southern Fried Blackberry Pies. I’m sure she never bought a blackberry in her life. We picked wild blackberries in late June.

Mama made her pie crusts with lard, but I buy pie crusts. It needs to be at room temperature or the crust might crack.

I sprinkle powdered sugar on my cooled pies to hide flaws while mom served them plain.

Ann’s Southern Fried Blackberry Pie

Ingredients:

• 3 cups blackberries
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• ¼ cup water (to dissolve corn starch)
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• Vegetable oil
• Sifted powdered sugar
• 1 box rolled pie crust from the refrigerated section of your grocery.

Filling:

• Combine blackberries, lemon juice, brown sugar, melted butter. Mash berries, bring the mixture to a boil, and then stir in dissolved corn starch and simmer until thickened. (About 5 minutes.) Set aside until completely cool. (About an hour.) It’s okay to store in the refrigerator overnight.

• Unroll the pie crust on waxed paper.
• Cut into 3 ½ inch circles with cookie cutter or glass.
• Place 1 teaspoon of cooled blackberry mixture in the center of each circle. Moisten edges of pastry; fold in half, making sure edges are even. Press pastry edges together firmly with a fork dipped in flour.
• Heat 1 to 2 inches of oil in a skillet to 375° (I prefer an iron skillet). Cook 4 to 5 pies at a time until golden brown on both sides, turning once. (About 2 minutes on each side.)
• Drain well on a wire rack on a cookie sheet for at least 15 minutes and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Depending on the size of your pies, this recipe will make about 12 – 14 pies. You will have about a cup of filling left. I usually refrigerate this and use it on toast. Yummy!

I believe there’s a fruit for every season of life. I hope you’ll try my recipe and let me know what you think.

“ ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 ESV.

About Shelia:

Shelia Stovall is the director of a small-town library in southern Kentucky, where only strangers mention her last name, and the children call her Miss Shelia.

Missionary travels are taking her to Africa—again. She’s the self-proclaimed worst missionary ever, but is glad God continues to send her.

Shelia and her husband Michael live on a farm. Spending time with family, especially her grandchildren, is her all-time favorite thing. The only hobby Shelia loves more than reading uplifting stories of hope is writing them.  

Connect with Shelia on her blog.

Every Window Filled with Light

Welcome to Weldon, Kentucky, where the only things the locals love more than fried pies are gossip and match-making.

Librarian Emma Baker, a young and childless widow, believes her dream to build a family is over. It’s been two years since a student accidentally stabbed Emma’s husband to death, and her grief has stifled any interest in romance—until she meets Pastor Luke Davis. But when Emma learns Luke is counseling her husband’s killer fresh out of jail, her temper gets in the way.

Meanwhile, Emma discovers twelve-year-old Harley, abandoned by her drug-addict mother, hiding in the library, and takes the girl in as her foster mom. Then a young mother is made homeless by an apartment fire, and Emma opens her home again. One person and one prayer at a time, Emma begins to discover hope.

https://www.amazon.com/Every-Window-Filled-Light-Weldon/dp/1649491697/