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A
friend sent
our family a couple of Moon Pies a few days ago. Our first reaction was: “Are
Moon Pies still being made today?’
If you’re older than sixty, you may
remember the delicious taste of a Moon Pie that you experienced as a youngster.
A Moon Pie is a pastry consisting of two round graham cracker cookies, with marshmallow
filling in the center, dipped in vanilla or other flavors. The traditional pie
is about the diameter of a hockey puck. A smaller version (mini Moon Pies) is
about half the size.
The four main flavors are chocolate, vanilla, grape,
and blueberry. Three newer flavors, lemon, orange, and peanut butter are also
available.
The moon pie was invented around 1917 by a bakery in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, but the product's origin is undocumented. Earl Mitchell, Sr. was identified
as the possible creator by his son. Mr. Mitchell reportedly conceived the moon
pie as a snack for coal miners in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.
In the South, a common phrase is: “Give me an RC Cola and a Moon Pie, " but it
is uncertain where the tradition of eating moon pies with RC Cola originated On
New Year's eve 2008, the city of Mobile, Alabama raised a 12-foot tall lighted
mechanical moon pie to celebrate the coming of the new year. The giant banana-colored
Moon Pie was raised by a crane to a height of 200 feet as the clock struck midnight.
The city also had for its New Year's celebration the world's largest moon
pie weighing 55 pounds.
ABC-TV's Good Morning America featured "The Moon
Pie Song" by Charles Ghigna (Father Goose) during its tour of the Chattanooga
Bakery Company in 1991.
Finally, the two Moon Pies sent to our household
were as good as any of those gobbled up as kids. But we don’t recommend them for
dieters.
Bob Bowman's East Texas
June 20, 2010 Column
A weekly column syndicated in 109 East Texas newspapers
Copyright
Bob Bowman | |
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