Every summer one of the highlights of the beach was Meemaw’s pie.

Dolphin’s Watch

Sometime during her stay (usually 2-3 weeks) she would come up to me and say. “Could you carry me uptown?” I knew she was ready to pick up the ingredients for her mouth-watering coconut pie.

Leether Southard and our sweet daughter.

Meemaw worked as a seamstress sewing parachutes during World War II and continued sewing clothing in a factory in Richmond, Virginia until her retirement.  She continued making beautiful clothes and knitting wool blankets well into her 80’s.
She had a lovely home on Rosedale Avenue, filled with antique furniture handed down from generation to generation, and other pieces she had bought and paid for with her hard earned money.  Exquisite gardens including roses,                                    berries, vegetables and an intoxicating array of native Virginian flowers like the Coral honeysuckle and gardenia adorned her property. When I think of her home, the fragrances are the first to come to my senses as I slept on her teal Federal style sofa and listened to she and Todd laugh and gab in the kitchen.   And oh could she cook like only a southern Virginia lady knows how.  Among her special treats was a coconut pie.  Aside from the gluten free pie crust and a tablespoon of rice flour, below is her recipe for the pie filling.

3 eggs                                                2 c flaked coconut

1 1/2 c sugar                                    1/4 ts. salt

1/4  stick of butter                        1 ts. lemon juice or vanilla

1 T rice flour                                    2 baked Gillian’s Wheat & Gluten Free Quiché

2 c milk                                                and Pie Crust

Beat eggs, butter, add sugar, flour & salt. Beat again and add coconut mix well.

Add milk, and flavoring. Pour into baked pie shell (if you are using a wheat crust with this recipe use an unbaked pie shell.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.

Memaw’s Coconut Pie

Her son, my Father-in-law Lee is in the photo below working on the beach. His hard work provided for the dreamy summers on the Outer Banks.

Our daughter and her grandfather Pop.

Meemaw was a savvy, frugal, hard-working lady who succeeded by the sweat of her brow, and passed on her work ethic to her son and grandchildren.  She was warm, honest, had a great sense of humor, and continually reached out to help others making us all feel so loved and special.

I think of her everyday as I drink yesterdays coffee as my first cup and reuse my aluminum foil (I learned this from her), and as I set my table with some of her good silver.

Meemaw went to be with Jesus on Christmas Day.