A Pie Full of Good Luck

This morning the sun is shining and the icicles are dripping. We’ve been lucky these past two weeks. Our holiday weather was cold and very windy and, yes, we had snow, but it was mostly manageable. The good news --the sun is out. The temperatures are warming up. The week of 20 below zero really established a great ice foundation on the lake. I don’t know how thick it is, but I did just see a pick-up truck drive past about fifty feet out from the shore.

We really do need precipitation—either rain or snow will do. The late summer, fall, and even the winter so far have been very droughty. We’re hearing serious concerns about the sub-surface moisture levels essential for good crops.

Our lake has a low dam at one end where its water overflows into the creek that runs through town and eventually to the Mississippi River. The height of the dam was established years ago by state law. When the lake “iced in” the water level was eleven inches below this outlet. In a good water year we start the season with the lake five or six inches above the dam at “ice out.” The lake is shallow, too. The average depth is ten feet with the maximum natural depth at 19 feet. There is one area where the lake was dredged several years ago to a depth of 30 feet. All of these water levels have a significant impact on recreational use of the lake. The shallower water can’t accommodate boats with deep hulls and motors. There are rocks below the surface. You can imagine what a difference a foot of more of water would have keeping those boat hulls and their motors from the rocks.

So we need luck to break the drought cycle and fill the lake with snow and spring rains.

Here’s where the pie comes in

We’ll need a lot of luck and so I’m resorting to my favored New Year’s all-in-one lucky foods pie. When we lived in the South I became acquainted with the custom of New Year’s collard greens and black-eyed peas for luck. I’m sorry. I’ve had collard greens lovingly cooked by some amazing Southern cooks. I just can’t enjoy them. Now that we're back in the Midwest I’ve made a few adjustments. First I substitute spinach for the collards! I've been known to disguise the black-eyes peas by mixing them into salsa.

But now I"m convinced this dish is the best! I found this spinach pie recipe in a wonderful book by Hilary Spurling. In Elinor Fettiplace’s Receipt Book she worked through the recipes from a hand-written family cookbook dating from England’s Elizabethan era. Her approach to these 1600's recipes and their food heritage is simply marvelous. I’ve made several of her recipes. This pie is one of my favorites. I’ve tweaked it a bit to make it the “all in one” lucky pie.

Hope you enjoy it and have a very Happy and Lucky New Year.

Lucky Spinach Pie

Greens, black-eyed peas, oranges, eggs, ginger, and dried fruits are all symbolic of good luck or wealth. This pie combines them all for a luck-loaded delicious treat. Below you’ll find the full recipe and one that makes just a few tarts.

This recipe makes two 8- or 9-inch diameter pies

1/3 cup dried currants or dried unsweetened cranberries, lightly chopped

1/2 cup orange juice (you could substitute apple juice or even brandy)

2 pounds fresh spinach, cooked and chopped, (Or substitute 30 ounces frozen chopped spinach)

4 eggs. Lightly beaten

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

4 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup canned black eyed peas, lightly chopped

2 8- or 9-inch unbaked pie crusts

Walnut halves for garnish

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Combine the currants and orange juice (or other liquid) in a glass measuring cup or other microwavable container. Microwave for 1-2 minutes on medium until the currents have plumped. Set aside to cool. Squeeze ALL the water out of the cooked or thawed frozen spinach. Put eggs in a medium mixing bowl. Add the seasonings, melted butter, spinach, currants with the remaining liquid, and black-eyed peas. Mix well. Making sure the spinach is evenly distributed. Divide the mixture between the two pie crusts. Garnish with walnuts. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes then lower the heat to 350 and continue baking until the filling is puffed and set so that a knife inserted in the center comes out clean—about 25 to 35 minutes. NOTE: total baking time will vary depending on the kind of pie plate used. Store uneaten pie in the refrigerator for up to two days. Or wrap tightly and freeze for up to two months.

"Just Enough" Good Luck Tarts

To make a smaller recipe that will fill 6 2 ½-inch diameter tart pans (I use my regular cupcake pan)

3 tablespoons dried currants or dried unsweetened cranberries, lightly chopped

3 tablespoons orange juice (you could substitute apple juice or even brandy)

1/2 pound ( 5 to 8 ounces will work) fresh spinach, cooked and chopped, (Or substitute 8 ounces frozen chopped spinach)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/16 teaspoon cinnamon

1/16 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon melted butter

2 tablespoons canned black eyed peas, lightly chopped

Pie crust to line 6 tart pans – half a recipe for a two-crust pie should work.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease six tart pans or six sections of a standard cupcake tin. For my tin, a circular crust 4-inches in diameter fills the 2 ½-inch diameter section.

Make the filling: Combine the currants and orange juice (or other liquid) in a glass measuring cup or other microwavable container. Microwave for 1-2 minutes on medium until the currents have plumped. Set aside to cool. Squeeze ALL the water out of the cooked or thawed frozen spinach. Put eggs in a medium mixing bowl. Add the seasonings, melted butter, spinach, currants with remaining liquid, and black-eyed peas. Mix well. Making sure the spinach is evenly distributed. Divide the mixture among the six tart crusts. Garnish with walnuts. Bake until the filling is puffed and set so that a knife inserted in the center comes out clean—about 25 to 35 minutes. NOTE: total baking time will vary depending on the kid of tart tins used. Store uneaten tarts in the refrigerator for up to two days. Or wrap tightly and freeze for up to two months.

Hilary Spurling’s book was published by Elisabeth Sifton Books, a division of Viking in 1986