An old chef I used to work for in the Royal Hotel in Cardiff during
the 1960's had a dish he used to make regularly for the staff. He
called it 'Alabama Pie'.

When I asked him what the recipe was he said he just whatever was left
over in the fridge, chopped up, boiled with a couple of tins of
tomatoes, salt and pepper... let it 'reduced' til it was thick and
then he wrapped it in pastry and baked it.

I never ate it again.

Apparently he learned it from his mother up when he was a kid in the
South of the USA. He was 60 then... so this must have been in the
early part of the century.

He told me the family was so poor he and his brothers used to go to
the bins at the back of the restaurants of 'white folk' and bring back
anything they could find that might be edible. Half eaten bits of
fish, chicken or meat... old veg... whatever they could scrounge.

His mother would cut the worst bits off and throw the rest in the pot.

Hard to believe how poor some people could be.

Just something to remember while we're stuffing our faces over Xmas

Welshdog
--

News and views... from 'the land down under'.
Australian Opinion
http://australianopinion.com.au and
http://australianopinion.com

On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:18:30 +1100, Welsh Dog >
wrote:

>An old chef I used to work for in the Royal Hotel in Cardiff during
>the 1960's had a dish he used to make regularly for the staff. He
>called it 'Alabama Pie'.
>
>When I asked him what the recipe was he said he just whatever was left
>over in the fridge, chopped up, boiled with a couple of tins of
>tomatoes, salt and pepper... let it 'reduced' til it was thick and
>then he wrapped it in pastry and baked it.
>
>I never ate it again.
>
>Apparently he learned it from his mother up when he was a kid in the
>South of the USA. He was 60 then... so this must have been in the
>early part of the century.
>
>He told me the family was so poor he and his brothers used to go to
>the bins at the back of the restaurants of 'white folk' and bring back
>anything they could find that might be edible. Half eaten bits of
>fish, chicken or meat... old veg... whatever they could scrounge.
>
>His mother would cut the worst bits off and throw the rest in the pot.
>
>Hard to believe how poor some people could be.
>
>Just something to remember while we're stuffing our faces over Xmas

Thank you very much for sharing that, Welsh Dog. Makes me feel
downright prosperous. And humble.

Carol

On Dec 11, 12:30*am, Damsel in dis Dress >
wrote:
> On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:18:30 +1100, Welsh Dog >
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> >An old chef I used to work for in the Royal Hotel in Cardiff during
> >the 1960's had a dish he used to make regularly for the staff. He
> >called it *'Alabama Pie'.
>
> >When I asked him what the recipe was he said he just whatever was left
> >over in the fridge, chopped up, boiled with a couple of tins of
> >tomatoes, salt and pepper... let it 'reduced' til it was thick and
> >then he wrapped it in pastry and baked it.
>
> >I never ate it again.
>
> >Apparently he learned it from his mother up when he was a kid in the
> >South of the USA. He was 60 then... so this must have been in the
> >early part of the century.
>
> >He told me the family was so poor he and his brothers used to go to
> >the bins at the back of the restaurants of 'white folk' and bring back
> >anything they could find that might be edible. Half eaten bits of
> >fish, chicken or meat... old veg... whatever they could scrounge.
>
> >His mother would cut the worst bits off and throw the rest in the pot.
>
> >Hard to believe how poor some people could be.
>
> >Just something to remember while we're stuffing our faces over Xmas
>
> Thank you very much for sharing that, Welsh Dog. *Makes me feel
> downright prosperous. *And humble.
>
> Carol- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Just think - nowadays, urban young adults are dumpster diving as a
means of eating free - not necessarily because they have to, but
because they are more or less interested in not wasting anything.

N.

"Welsh Dog" > wrote in message
...
> An old chef I used to work for in the Royal Hotel in Cardiff during
> the 1960's had a dish he used to make regularly for the staff. He
> called it 'Alabama Pie'.
>
> When I asked him what the recipe was he said he just whatever was left
> over in the fridge, chopped up, boiled with a couple of tins of
> tomatoes, salt and pepper... let it 'reduced' til it was thick and
> then he wrapped it in pastry and baked it.

<snip>

Not quite

Dimitri

recipes for Alabama Pie;

# 1

1 c. cubed ham
1 c. cooked, crumbled bacon
1 c. finely cubed Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. cooked grits
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 lg. can evaporated milk
1 tbsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1 frozen deep dish pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour
mixture into the pie shell and bake for 50-55 minutes. Also makes a great
breakfast dish.

# 2



1 c. mild Cheddar cheese
1 c. meat (ham or sausage)
1/3 c. onion, chopped
1 (13 oz.) can evaporated milk
3 eggs, beaten
1 c. graham crackers or cooked grits
1 tbsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
9-inch pie shell

Brown meat and remove all grease; put cheese on bottom of pie shell. Put
meat on top of cheese. Mix other ingredients and pour over the meat in the
uncooked pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.

# 3



1 c. shredded natural Swiss cheese (4
oz.)
1 c. chopped cooked ham
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell
1 (13 oz.) can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 c. hot cooked white quick grits
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. cayenne

Sprinkle cheese, ham, and onion over bottom of pie shell. Beat together
remaining ingredients; pour into pie shell. Bake in preheated moderate oven
(375) 45-50 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:13:22 -0800, "Dimitri" >
wrote:

>
>"Welsh Dog" > wrote in message
.. .
>> An old chef I used to work for in the Royal Hotel in Cardiff during
>> the 1960's had a dish he used to make regularly for the staff. He
>> called it 'Alabama Pie'.
>>
>> When I asked him what the recipe was he said he just whatever was left
>> over in the fridge, chopped up, boiled with a couple of tins of
>> tomatoes, salt and pepper... let it 'reduced' til it was thick and
>> then he wrapped it in pastry and baked it.
>
><snip>
>
>Not quite
>
>Dimitri
>
>recipes for Alabama Pie;

<snip>

I'm sure if he was still alive he'd be pleased to receive those.

But I'll be willing to bet his mother never had enough money to buy
those sorts of ingredients!!

It was weird listening to him telling me tales of not having had any
shoes until he was 7 and only had them then because his elder brother
was killed in a road accident.

Geez some people have hard lives.

Welshdog
--

News and views... from 'the land down under'.
Australian Opinion
http://australianopinion.com.au and
http://australianopinion.com

I knew this little girl who lived next door to us when I was 8. Her
parents were both alcoholics and her name was Ardith.

"What are you guys having for dinner tonight?" I asked her once. "Oh,
probably, Skip", she replied.

"Skip"? I asked. "What's that?"

"That's when we skip dinner."

Man....I'll never forget that.

My mom lived thru the Great Depression, the youngest of four siblings.
She said they ate lots of grits, cornbread and beans....It's
just....hard to imagine! I've only missed maybe two meals in my
life....except when I was "dieting".

The closest to REALLY hungry I ever was....I had this boyfriend in the
60's, who was a "master" hitch-hiker. I hitched from Atlanta to
Baltimore with him and his "Code of the Road" was, you never ASK for
food. If someboidy OFFERS to buy you food, yuou can accept."

On this trip, nobody offered us food....and it took some 18 hours to get
there. LOL....and when we arrived, he knew where to go to sell blood
for five bucks. We Each sold a pint of blood and had a cheesburger
frenzy.

LassChance

Hey, man...there used to be this Dunkin' Do-nuts, where they threw away
every do-nut over 12 hours old. Lots of "Hippies" used to raid the
dumpsters.

I have no real problem with that We Americans throw away more food than
many thrid world countries produce. It's a dispicable thing.

LOL! We (Hippies) used to go dive the Do-nut dumpster, then steal a
quart of milk off somebody's porch for breakfast MANY a morning. There
was also a Woolworth's with a lunch counter that sold the "39 cent
breakfast". You could get a piece of toast, one scrambled egg, one
piece of bacon and some grits for 39 cents. Im serious. This was...oh,
1969 or so. I cant remember if the coffee was included or not, but if
it wasnt, it was onlu another dime.

I, along with many other kids, made my "living" selling an unergrouhnd
newspaper called "The Great Speckled Bird". Each paper sold for a
quarter and we got to KEEP 12 cents!

Then this guy (who had just been released from prison) started printing
this rag called, "HIP!", full of home made polaroid photos of local
"swingers", with phone numbers to hook up, and they sold for a BUCK!
and we got to keep fifty cents! OMG! WE WERE RICH! I once sold SO MANY
copies of HIP that my pockets were BULGING with dollar bills!

I went into The Stein Club, ordered a pitcher of beer ( one dollar for a
pitcher) and began to empty out my jacket and bell-bottom jeans
pockets...counting up my wealth....and discovered I had 26 dollars!
FORTY SIX DOLLARS!!!!!!

....and it had only taken me 12 hours or so of standing in the July heat
in Atlanta with my arm stuck out holding a paper....to make it! I
mean...What do you DO with THAT KIND of MONEY??????

Shoot...me and my "Old Man" bought an oscilating FAN! Then we invited
all out friends to our "pad" to groove on the COOL air! We
were....like, man...the ONLY people who HAD a FAN!

So, we, like, you know, ate a bunch of acid and GROOVED on the COOL,
man!

LassChance

LOL! Reading the "recipes for Alabama Pie", I realize that ALL these
ingrediants were included in the "Surplus Food" Program back in the old
Hippy days.

Back then, they didnt have Food Stamps. Instead, you went to this place
where prisoners doled out packages of canned meat (basically, "Spam"),
bags of grits, cornmeal, flour, sugar, huge cans of real butter, huge
cans oif American cheese, huge cans of boned chicken, bags of onions,
dried beans, dried peas, powdered milk, macaroni, grits, powdered eggs,
BIG cans of peaches or pears.....really, it was great! They gave you
everything you needed except fresh veggies, for a really balanced diet.

You got a different colored card, depending on how big your "{family"
was. (So, if 12 Hippies all lived together, you had a "family" of 12)
and as you walked down the line, these prisoners (mostly Black) would
see your card and put X number of whatever into your cardboard
box....dep0ending on what color your card was. BUT !F you could pass
the prisoner a JOINT..... he would sort of...well, double your number or
packages. So, if you had six people living in your "crash pad", and a
few joints of dope, you could come home with TWO five pound cans of
butter, TWO five pound cans of Am. Cheese, TWO cans of Spam, TWO cans of
chicken, TWQ big bags of grits, flour, beans......heh heh heh. We were
living in FAT CITY, man. They even gave yoy a big can of lard to fry
the Spam in, and to add to the flour to make biscuits.....

Then, of course, you could TRADE your excess food for MORE DOPE! "Hey,
Bro...I got five pounds of butter...wanna trade for a lid of weed"?

Nowadays, they give folks Food Stamos....and you see people loading up
their carts with potato chips, ice cream, candy and other bullshit.
Franky, the OLD way was BETTER. You can live very well on the stuff
they useed to give, basic, real FOOD. Oh, I forgot to even mention the
PEANUT BUTTER! They used to give you a fuve poiund can of real P'nut
butter, the kind you have to stir.

I also cant help but wonder....WHAT are they doing with all the Surplus
Fopod NOW? I hope they're sending it to some Third World Country.......

But I WISH they werre still giving it out to our OWN Poor....because
potatoe chips and ice cream aint much of a diet for the poor kids of
America.

I remember, we would take the Spam stuff, mix it with the chicken, add
some powdered eggs and dried milk nand an onion....amd make something
damn close to meat loaf.....

It was frickin GOOD, too.

Somebody molded the mix into a turkey shape once, for TG.....

Shit, man...them was the DAZE!

LassChance

Lass Chance_2 wrote:

> I also cant help but wonder....WHAT are they doing with all the
> Surplus Fopod NOW? I hope they're sending it to some Third World
> Country.......

In Minnesota, they give it to 1) children, mothers, and expectant
mothers who aren't eligible for the WIC (Women, Infants, Children)
state program and 2) people over 60 who aren't on various other
programs.

--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
Journal http://dsgood.livejournal.com
Futures http://clerkfuturist.wordpress.com
Mirror Journal http://dsgood.insanejournal.com
Mirror 2 http://dsgood.wordpress.com
Links http://del.icio.us/dsgood

Lass Chance_2 wrote:
> I once sold SO MANY
> copies of HIP that my pockets were BULGING with dollar bills!
>
> I went into The Stein Club, ordered a pitcher of beer ( one dollar for a
> pitcher) and began to empty out my jacket and bell-bottom jeans
> pockets...counting up my wealth....and discovered I had 26 dollars!
> FORTY SIX DOLLARS!!!!!!
>

Are you still smoking what you were smoking then?

>
> Shoot...me and my "Old Man" bought an oscilating FAN! Then we invited
> all out friends to our "pad" to groove on the COOL air! We
> were....like, man...the ONLY people who HAD a FAN!
>


What did you sell to buy your computer? Inquiring minds want to know
what hippies in the current decade are selling/buying.

gloria p

On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:13:22 -0800, Dimitri wrote:

> "Welsh Dog" > wrote in message
> ...
>> An old chef I used to work for in the Royal Hotel in Cardiff during
>> the 1960's had a dish he used to make regularly for the staff. He
>> called it 'Alabama Pie'.
>>
>> When I asked him what the recipe was he said he just whatever was left
>> over in the fridge, chopped up, boiled with a couple of tins of
>> tomatoes, salt and pepper... let it 'reduced' til it was thick and
>> then he wrapped it in pastry and baked it.
>
> <snip>
>
> Not quite
>
> Dimitri
>
> recipes for Alabama Pie;
>
> # 1
>
> # 2
>
> # 3
>
<recipes snipped and saved>

i don't know that i'll ever be ambitious enough to make them, but they all
sound great. maybe i'll try to dragoon someone else into making one.

your pal,
blake

Well, Gloria, since "Inquiring minds want to know, No, it's NOT the same
dope now as then. Marijuana back then was almost always from Mexico.
Much of the B grade less-expensive weed still is. The only "good" weed
came from Viet Nam, Thailand and Cambodia, which sadly, sort of dried up
after the Nam.

However, I grow my own now and trust me when I say, it is MUCH better.

Evidently, MANY of my contemporaries became Botanists, bio-molecular
scientists and hybridization experts, as the pot produced today has
double the amount of the active ingredient, THC, as the "old" Mexican
weed had.

What do we Old Hippies DO? Well, I cant speak for any Old Hippies other
than myself, Gloria.

I got a degree and taught school and invested in real estate until I
retired a few years ago. If you're interested, there is a great deal
more profit in real estate than teaching. This may not be "right" but
it is "so". The OTHER thing, we Old Hippies did, as a whole, was
produce a generation of stick-up-the-ass, boring, unimaginative young
Republicans

But why do you ask?

Did you assume we were all either in prison, dead or stark raving mad?

LassChance


Alabama Pie

Group: rec.food.cooking Date: Fri, Dec 12, 2008, 12:15pm (EST-2) From:
(Gloria*P)
Lass Chance_2 wrote:
****I once sold SO MANY
copies of HIP that my pockets were BULGING with dollar bills!
I went into The Stein Club, ordered a pitcher of beer ( one dollar for a
pitcher) and began to empty out my jacket and bell-bottom jeans
pockets...counting up my wealth....and discovered I had 26 dollars!
FORTY SIX DOLLARS!!!!!!

Are you still smoking what you were smoking then?

Shoot...me and my "Old Man" bought an oscilating FAN! Then we invited
all out friends to our "pad" to groove on the COOL air! We were....like,
man...the ONLY people who HAD a FAN!

What did you sell to buy your computer? Inquiring minds want to know
what hippies in the current decade are selling/buying.
gloria p

"Lass Chance_2" > wrote >

>The OTHER thing, we Old Hippies did, as a whole, was
>produce a generation of stick-up-the-ass, boring, unimaginative young
>Republicans

Okay, well this is just ****ing wonderful.

Ah laahhk yew.

On Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:15:24 -0500, "cybercat" >
wrote:

>
>"Lass Chance_2" > wrote >
>
>>The OTHER thing, we Old Hippies did, as a whole, was
>>produce a generation of stick-up-the-ass, boring, unimaginative young
>>Republicans
>
>Okay, well this is just ****ing wonderful.
>
>Ah laahhk yew.
>
They were rebelling against their parents. Same old story.


--
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that
interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.

Mae West

My pleasure.
Anytime.

uh....did I meet your parents at Woodstock?

LassChance


Alabama Pie

Group: rec.food.cooking Date: Sat, Dec 13, 2008, 2:15pm From:
(cybercat)
"Lass Chance_2" > wrote >
The OTHER thing, we Old Hippies did, as a whole, was produce a
generation of stick-up-the-ass, boring, unimaginative young Republicans
Okay, well this is just ****ing wonderful.
Ah laahhk yew.

"They were rebelling against their parents. Same old story." --sl

Yeah, I know. It couldnt have been easy for them.

We were kind of a hard act to follow.

Las