Aunt June’s Raisin Pie

I gotta tell you a little about my beautiful Aunt June; She is about one of the most  sweetest, prettiest, talented ladies I know! She married my Uncle Buck (Virgie’s oldest son) in 1956, they raised 4 beautiful daughters and had a loving and strong marriage. Long before Bennifer (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez) there was BuckN’June, These two completed each other. Even their names were said together as if they were one person.  The love they shared was a testament to what a loving marriage should be! He doted on her and complimented her all of  the time, she would giggled and laughed and brushed it off in a shy way, but I know she loved it. (Who wouldn’t!)  It was so sweet to watch. I can still hear him playfully tell her she was the “best lookin’ woman he’d ever seen!”

       When I was a child, they lived next door to us, and they were just a part of my daily life, but when I was about 7 they moved to Southern California for a business opportunity. That didn’t stop us from remaining a close-nit family. We would load up the car with the 5 of us, and make the long drive through California’s Central Valley,  following the long aqueduct, passing through miles of farm land, and cow pastures down I-5  a few times a year, and vice versa. It was a painfully boring drive, but when we got there it was all worth it.  When I was old enough to take the Amtrak train to visit them by myself, I would do that.  Then when I was old enough to drive I would take my younger brother and go visit them for long weekends. Aunt June always had our favorite meals planned for our long weekends, they had a pool in the back yard and Uncle Buck loved to BBQ on his Komodo cooker. The sound of a motorized crank and rumble of the churning ice was the first sign that we were all in for a treat! Aunt June would make the most amazing  home made ice cream, it was the perfect scoop on hot summer days to make our fresh, out of the oven Pie even more delicious! Aunt June is a cook! She was a stay at home mom, and she perfected her craft of cooking, my Uncle Buck wasn’t the only happy recipient of her talents in the kitchen! We all have been!  When I went on my first date with my husband, she happened to be visiting, when he came to pick me up she and my mom gave him the “Once Over” and 20 questions. His answers must have been the right ones, soon she was baking him pies and having us come to visit. My husband has an insatiable sweet tooth, and this is where their bonding began. LOL. We would go visit, and she would have mile high strawberry pies, coconut cream pies, Lemon Meringue pies, but when she made him a Raisin Pie for the first time, he fell in love! lol.. So over the past almost 30 years every time she visits, he gets a Raisin Pie. She gave me this recipe to share, hope you will enjoy it. It’s about as old fashioned a pie as I can think of. You won’t see this on the menu at your local pie shop. One more thing, her pie crust is AMAZING! the flakiest and lightest crust of any pie I have ever eaten.   

Thank you Aunt June for all the years of love & recipes!

I love You!