PUNGO — Patsy Meiggs talks about her cooking almost as if it’s a passing fancy, not a craft that is handed down and shared.
Yet, when she tells you how she cooks a dish and what she puts in it, you end up asking if you can buy the ingredients and pay her, especially if it came out of her garden, the family farm.
What better way to celebrate strawberry season than writing about, arguably, one of the best homemade strawberry pies in Virginia Beach? We are lucky in our city to have a bounty of fresh produce. Season to season, we benefit from a rich horn of plenty, if you know where to look. I like looking.
Meiggs is welcoming and hospitable. She reminds me of a big sister who has the family’s recipes that have been passed down and are in safe hands. Then there are her pies. Notice that I said pies — plural — instead of just the strawberry pie alone.
Pies are her thing. It depends on what’s in season, and that variety is part of the beauty of living where we live.
Meiggs learned from her mother, Shirley Sawyer, and Meiggs “loved” cooking the most among her sisters.
I trust the discerning palates that belong to Sharon and Dion Mosley, who share recipes and food back and forth with Meiggs. Meiggs told me how much she and her husband, Ike, enjoy dinners, treats and surprises that Sharon Mosley cooks.
“She sent me one just the other day,” Meiggs remarked.
And the favor is returned.
“I made Sharon two or three pies,” Meiggs said. “Sharon and I trade up stuff. She brings me stuff, and I’ll bring her stuff. We’ll eat at her house. You know when it comes to food, it’s good to share and pass it on. …
“Oh lord, it’s funny. I have a little story to tell you. My mother’s home now. … She worked at this restaurant in Elizabeth City, N.C. It must have been 25 years ago. This lady that owned it had this recipe for coconut pie that came down through her family for generations.
“My momma cooked the pies and cakes and stuff for her restaurant and everything. So she gave her the recipe for this coconut pie passed down in her family for generations but told Momma not to give it to anyone. Well, of course, she had to tell me because I’m her daughter. She knew I loved to cook. But I wouldn’t tell anyone.
“They got older and couldn’t remember anything. So she called my momma one day and asked, ‘Do you remember how to make that pie?’ Well, my momma said, ‘No, I don’t, but I’ll see if I can find it.’ So she called me and asked me if I still had the recipe for that pie. Then she called me and made sure I still had it.”
She did.
Thank you to the Mosleys for introducing me to Meiggs. And thanks, Patsy Meiggs, for the strawberry pie.
PATSY MEIGGS’ STRAWBERRY PIE RECIPE
Patsy Meiggs likes to double this for a bigger pie. Serves 6.
Ingredients: One quart of strawberries capped and sliced in half; Three tablespoons of strawberry Jello; Three tablespoons of corn starch; One cup sugar; One cup hot water; One cooked pie shell
Directions: Combine Jello, cornstarch and sugar. Add hot water and cook on medium heat, and bring to a boil for five minutes and cool. Mix berries and Jello mixture. Serve with your favorite topping. Meiggs likes homemade whipped cream on hers.
The author is a writer and documentary filmmaker who grew up in Norfolk and lived in Virginia Beach for much of his life. He ran a production company, worked in college athletics and was curator at an art gallery in Virginia Beach for years.
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