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Food Sources: Pie project eases some pain

Grief calls for food in every culture. Friends arriving with bread, lasagna, brown paper grocery bags of fancy deli treats — it’s a helpful, practical act, but also a loving reminder that we are not alone.

Maybe we bring food because words are so inadequate when dealing with death, whether you’re trying to offer sympathy to someone hurting after a loss or trying to express your own grief. Bringing food also offers an excuse for a quick face-to-face moment — to offer a hug, hear a story, or help with a task that needs to be done.

I received a call from Rose McGee at the Minnesota Humanities Center awhile back, asking Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community to be part of a project called “How Can We Breathe.” This project merges two really good ideas — bringing special food to grieving people and listening to their wisdom and stories as we strive to build a community that honors all of us.

Rose is amazing. She is the founder of Sweet Potato Comfort Pies, a Minnesota grassroots organization advocating for justice by giving comfort pies and building community. Sweet potato pie is a universal symbol of togetherness and celebration in Black culture.

Rose has taken pies to mourners and protesters in Ferguson, Missouri after the murder of Michael Brown, to the Tree of Life synagogue after the mass shooting, to the Charleston church massacre and to the Standing Rock pipeline protests, among others.

Rose says her pies are not only for mourning: “Sweet Potato Comfort Pies nourish story sharing; and they offer comfort, gratitude and solidarity during times of struggle.” They are also “prepared with love and a commitment to greater understanding, unity and justice.”

Rose and the Minnesota Humanities Center have recruited people to deliver comfort pies to African American elders in our region, and to learn their stories about the civil rights movement and its lessons for our present time.

You can learn more about this by participating in the How Can We Breathe “policymakers and community” virtual conversation on Dec. 3. Registration information can be found at mnhum.org/community-conversations/how-can-we-breathe, or email registration@mnhum.org.

It’s a great recipe and a great way to build a more just community together.

Our region is flush with great food. If you would like to tell your local food story, call Emily Swanson at Oldenburg House, 218-384-4835.

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Rose McGee’s Sweet Potato Comfort Pie

Makes two 9-inch pies

Ingredients

4 medium-size sweet potatoes, cooked

2 cups granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 4-oz stick of butter, melted

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon ginger

1 tablespoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 cup milk (whole, evaporated or condensed)

1 teaspoon lemon extract

2 unbaked pie shells

Directions

Use a hand or stand mixer.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the cooked sweet potatoes.

Blend in sugar. Blend in eggs. Blend in melted butter.

One at a time, add next six ingredients; mix well.

Pour into pie shells. Place pies in oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake for 60 minutes.

Remove from oven. Allow pies to set (firm) for at least 30 minutes.

Serve warm, or allow to cool before eating.

Note: Sweet potato pie can be left at room temperature up to two days without refrigeration, be refrigerated up to one week and remain fresh, or be frozen.

 
 

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