EDITOR’S NOTE: These recipes by Erica Derr first appeared in the April 2005 issue of Our State.
Yield: 1 pie.
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2½ tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon flour
3 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon butter
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 9-inch pie crust, baked and cooled
1 cup toasted and salted pecans
1 toffee bar, crushed and crumbled
whipped cream cream topping (optional)
Mix brown sugar, salt, cornstarch, and flour in a sauce pan. Gradually stir in the milk. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Stir a little of the mixture into egg yolks. Next, blend egg yolk mixture into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil 1 minute more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Blend in butter and vanilla extract. Cool, stirring occasionally. Add pecans and crushed and crumbled toffee bar into the bottom of the pie shell.
Pour mixture into baked pie shell. Chill for hours. Top with whipped topping if desired.
Variations of this recipe:
In North Carolina, spring brings the scent of fresh-cut grass and memories of helping Dad mow the lawn.
Nostalgic burger joints are like time machines, delivering something extra special that keeps us coming back.
This tiny city block in downtown Greensboro once had a gigantic reputation. Not so much for its charbroiled beef patties — though they, too, were plentiful — but for its colorful characters and their wild shenanigans.
In the 1950s, as Americans hit freshly paved roads in shiny new cars during the postwar boom, a new kind of restaurant took shape: the drive-in. From those first thin patties to the elaborate gourmet hamburgers of today, North Carolina has spent the past 80 years making burger history.
