WHAT'S NEW AT THE PIRTLE WINERY: MAY 2007

The news this month is all good; it ranges from pretty good to very good..

The pretty good news starts with the Vineyard. The coldest April temperatures in over 100 years did stop the vines for a while but they have mostly recovered. We had no split trunks from the hard freeze (17degrees.) and should have from 1/3 to 1/2 normal crop on St. Vincent. Our Nortons were not even fazed and their growing shoots have already filled out the trellis. The aronia berry plants suffered in the harsh winds, but they too have regenerated and are growing strongly; only their early leaf growth suffered. It's good to see them all green and growing and happy.

We have had a bottling line in storage on the top floor of the new building for over a year. The very good news is that the bottling line is now operational. If we had enough bottles we could probably bottle all the wine in the winery in three weeks with the new system.

The new automatic labeler has to be activated first. Even before that happens, labels that fit the machine must be purchased. Our semi-auto labeler will suffice until we use all the rolls of labels we have now.

Stop in and visit us on your way this month. The wine garden is again beautiful. We are trying to get the Joe and Duke Duo back on Saturdays this summer; the vocalist Joe on guitar and Duke on the keyboard have had numerous customer requests to return. Future performances will be announced.

The next printing of Patricia's cookbook will have a long lost recipe of my late Aunt Mavis (she lived to be 100). I first tasted this about 40 years ago when our family visited Aunt Mavis and Uncle Ray Perkins at their home in Olney, Texas. Uncle Ray was in the oil business and also had a Ford dealership.

I remember the evening meal that day as an elegant event with all our children present. The one really unforgettable dish was what came to be known as Aunt Mavis' Blackbottom Pie.

Patricia recently found the recipe given to her in some old letters. She perfected the Blackbottom Pie on her second cooking. The first rendition was excellent but the second tasted just like the one my Aunt Mavis made 40 years ago.

So here it is:

:: RECIPE OF THE MONTH ::

Blackbottom Pie

I am going to make this very easy for you. I have practiced and changed several procedures.

First bake a deep dish pie crust until golden and put aside to cool (I buy already made pie crusts as it takes a lot less time).

In a small bowl put 2 tablespoons pure vanilla, 2 tablespoons water and 1 envelope of unflavored gelatin. Set aside after you stir the contents.

In a non stick sauce pan blend 2/3 cup sugar with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch.

In a bowl separate 4 eggs from yolks. Put aside the whites of the eggs for future use.

Beat egg yolks, add 1 cup half and half and I cup milk. Blend.

Add to sugar and cornstarch slowly. Heat until boiling and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add gelatin mixture until blended.

In a bowl put 1/2 of above custard mixture and blend well with a 6 oz. pkg. of semi sweet chocolate morsels. Pour blended mixture into bottom of your pie crust. Put in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Now you have the other half of the custard. While the chocolate is cooling in the crust, beat 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, add 2 tablespoons confectioner sugar. Beat with electric hand mixture until soft peaks form. Add the cool custard to the whipping cream. Put over chocolate mixture and keep in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

I have had raves over this like no pie I have ever made. If you wish you can decorate with chocolate shavings on top. Let me know how you like this. I do hope I have made it easy for you.