The Kentucky Derby

If you live in Kentucky or are a fan of horse racing you cannot escape the hoopla surrounding the Queen of all thoroughbred races, The Kentucky Derby.   The small city where I live is surrounded by horse farms and this business is integrally intertwined in our economy and population.  When I first arrived I didn't like the city because it was NOT the country and the rich snobby folks didn't suit me either.  Now that years have passed and I have aged and mellowed out I find this place I live has the best of both worlds in many many ways.  We are small, yet very cosmopolitan (for Kentucky) and in a few minutes from downtown you can be sailing down country roads.

In the past I have remembered a couple of memorable Derbies.  My all time favorite running for the roses (the garland the winner accepts is made of red roses) was when Alysheba clipped the hooves of the horse in front, nearly fell to his knees then got up pissed off and ran to the finish line to win.  Another one was the year Winning Colors won.

This isn't Winning Colors, but a horse near where my brother lives.  I've always admired a gray horse and I nearly always bet on the gray.  Winning Colors was a gray and a filly!  It is always a treat when a filly wins the Kentucky Derby because she has to compete against the boys who are usually bigger.

The Derby is almost always the first Saturday in May but for some reason this year it is on May 9th, my father's birthday.  They may change the date, but they can't change the weather!  Rain, sleet, snow or sunshine the ponies run. 

There is a lot of fuss about Derby Pie around this time, but I favor strawberry pie.  The berries are usually ripe after the derby but now that we have supermarkets I can get pretty nice strawberries now.  I still make the pie like Momma taught me.  As you can see I cheated and bought the graham cracker crust, something she never did.  We crushed the graham crackers with a rolling pin and melted margarine and then packed them in this old old pie pan.  As you see sliced berries were added while the filling was cooked on the stove.

Its simple.  A bit of butter or margarine (or not) and some sugar.  Cook til the strawberries begin to break down and then thicken with cornstarch.

How much cornstarch?  Well add it til when it thickens and you stir you can see the bottom of the pan.  the liquid will suddenly turn very clear too.  Pour it over the sliced berries and that is it.

There is a secret ingredient that my mother put in all her fruit pies, but when I tell people they look confused so now I just keep it to myself.

I once upstaged the hostess at her party with this simple pie.  I felt terrible because you never should do that, and I had been asked to bring a dessert.  This wasn't as beautiful as her fancy cake, but I was informed later that everyone had eaten my pie first.  She was an elderly lady I dearly loved who made the most excellent pies.  I suspect it was a compliment but I respectfully hung my head in shame and blamed it on the whipped cream.  Southern manners you know.

I cleaned out the freezer and used all the old berries.  The end product was the pie and 3 jars of jam!

See the little half full jar on the end?  It used to have blackberry jam in it.  Wonder where it went?

;)