PIE #11 - MILLIONAIRE PIE

I was somewhat pie deprived as a child. My Japanese mom did not have a sweet tooth and my dad was a meat and potatoes man from the midwest. I, however, did have a sweet tooth that my mom indulged occasionally by baking Duncan Hines cake mixes and Toll House chocolate chip cookies. My dad would bake sugar cookies and date bars for Christmas and would make a few rhubarb pies in the summer. I hated rhubarb and later on in my pie blog, I will comment further about this prolific stalk of bitter disgustingness.

But for now, I want to share my few sweet memories of pies past. In the 1970s when I was just a teenager, my older married sister would often have my younger sis and me over for the weekend. I admired her for being so fashion forward in her bell bottoms and platform shoes and for being an accomplished cook, a skill that eluded me. I looked forward to the delicious dishes she'd whip up. We'd sit with TV trays in front of the television, tweaking the rabbit ears so we'd get good reception for The Brady Bunch. My sister's husband was the manager of the local Furr's Cafeteria and she'd drive us there in her AMC Pacer to partake in another meal. Being family, we received a big discount. I loved going through that buffet line, choosing such delicacies as salisbury steak, hushpuppies, and bacon green beans. But what I relished the most was the dessert section. At the end of that long buffet line was an impressive array of pie slices. My tray was already groaning from the weight of my entree and umpteen side dishes but I always saved space for the pièce de résistance, Millionaire Pie, a kitschy concoction of cream cheese, pineapple, pecans and Cool Whip.

I've thought of that retro pie often, drooling at the sweet memory. Recently, I went through my old recipe box containing scads of index cards with handwritten recipes from yesteryear. My pie category, predictably, was very sparse. But imagine my delight when I came across the recipe for Millionaire Pie! I can't recall if this was given to me by my sister who clandestinely smuggled the recipe out of the Furr's secret vault. I'm just thankful the recipe emerged from its time capsule just in time to be highlighted in my pie blog.

It's hard to pinpoint the exact origin of Millionaire Pie, but the recipe was first circulated in the 1950's with references to Texas. Perhaps it was named after a wealthy Texas oilman who enjoyed savoring a cool slice after a scorching day in the old fields. In my research for this pie, I have come across recipes featuring a variety of crusts. I decided to try my friend Holly's recipe she inherited from her mother-in-law. Since the pie claims to have Texas roots, I've chosen her oil-based pastry....not crude oil, mind you, but Wesson oil, the one Florence Henderson of Brady Bunch fame promoted back in the 70's and 80's.

So in honor of pies past, put on your bell bottoms, turn the A.M. radio dial to a retro 70's music station, and put some "Wessonality" into that pie!

Crust:

I got great results with this crust! It's a breeze to mix but does take some care in rolling out. Sandwich the dough between two sheets of wax paper and roll thinly. The recipe makes two crusts but you will need only the bottom crust for this pie. With the remaining dough, use mini cookie cutters to cut out shapes you can use to line the rim of the pan. I used flower cut outs which made a fun flower power presentation for this retro pie!

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Wesson oil
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix flour and salt in large bowl. Pour Wesson oil and milk in one measuring cup but do not stir. Add all at once to the flour mixture. Stir until mixed. Press into a ball. Take two-thirds of the dough and roll between two sheets of wax paper. Place dough in 9-inch pie pan and press evenly. Take remaining dough, roll out, and cut into small shapes with cookie cutters. Brush the rim of the pie pan with milk and press shapes lightly around the rim. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, prick crust with fork, reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 12-15 minutes longer, just until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool.

Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple, well drained
1 12-ounce tub of Cool Whip
3/4 cup of chopped pecans (reserve some for garnish)

Cream sugar and cream cheese together with electric mixer. Add vanilla extract and pineapple and blend well. Fold in Cool Whip and pecans and spread mixture into cooled pie crust. Garnish with pecans, if desired. Refrigerate for at least four hours.