Funeral Pie & Brunswick Stew

     In her book, Death Warmed Over, author Lisa Rogak credits the Amish with the creation of Funeral Pie.  But having put my feet under the table of the Schwenkfelders for a quarter of a century I can say with certainty that Rosina Pie, as it is sometimes called in the Pennsylvania Deutch dialect, is known to a wider community than just our Amish brethren.  Many, if not all of the Pennsylvania German households are very familiar with the term for a baked good brought to a grieving friend or relative at the death of a loved one.  The main ingredient in the pie is raisins, due to their year round availability, unlike blueberries, peaches or apples.  That coupled with no need of refrigeration made the funeral pie something that could be baked a day or two before the wake.  It also had the additional feature of being very sweet to assuage the grief of sorrow at the passing of someone dear.
     N.B.  Be sure to click on the link to funeral pie above for a more complete description and for the recipe.  And note as well that the link also has a link that will explain the origins of funeral pie even more thoroughly.

     Now on to last night's meal, Brunswick Stew.  There are a variety of differing recipes for this meal, although most of them rely on lima beans and corn and a combination of pork and chicken.  But having said that I also have a recipe in my collection that calls for "10 squirrels, dressed and disjointed."  I can't say I've ever cooked squirrel but I do have friends from south of the Mason-Dixon line that say it is quite tasty if cooked properly.  But then again I guess you could say the same for armadillo and lizard, too.  I chose as my resource a recipe found in Cook's Country magazine.  They are the same folks who publish Cook's Illustrated and their instructions are very similar.  The emphasis is always on quality and making a recipe work, even if it involves about a dozen extra steps.  So I went to work and browned the pork chops, sauteed the onions and heated up the tomato sauce before adding them all to my slow cooker.  Then as recommended I cubed the potatoes and placed them in a foil packet with the chicken on top of them.  That was the last item to go into the slow cooker before it simmered all day on low.  The final instructions told me to remove the packet, turn the slow cooker on high and after unwrapping the packet return the potatoes to the mix.  Then when the meats had cooled I cut up the pork and the chicken and added them to the mix for a final heating.
     The final result?  I enjoyed the flavor of the veggies and the seasoned meats, but the potatoes still weren't quite cooked to my liking.  Perhaps next time I will around I will cook at a higher temperature for a shorter amount of time.