As Thanksgiving rolls around, both sides of my family pull out tried and true favorite pies that span four or more generations. My father spent most of his childhood and teen years in a Louisiana and east Texas locations, wherever his dad found work on an oil rig. Luckily, those travels landed them in Galena Park for my dad’s high school years. He spied my mom, and it took even more doing to win her around than my own husband faced (see Chocolate Pie Engagement Ring story).

One of my Grandpa Foshee’s favorite pies was what he called “chess” pie. Grandma Foshee had several varieties, but this is the one almost everyone remembers best.

There is a lot of speculation about how “chess pie” got its name. Based on the language my grandparents and my father used, Grandpa Foshee was probably following a family tradition of dropping the “T” from chest pie. These pies could be kept in a food chest for about a week without going bad.

Food chest? Think pie safe. Imagine a tall wood chest with punched tin panels in the door to allow air to circulate while keeping critters out. Living paycheck to paycheck, my relatives would not have had the resources to make and store a lot of pies. They lived in rent houses and probably owned little furniture, much less a pie safe or food chest.

Skip the drama and speculation and just call this recipe Buttermilk Pie like my mom and her side of the family. She introduced them to the recipe from her friend, Jackie Alford Kerbow. That recipe made two delicious buttermilk pies. I’ll take credit for introducing the Black and White Pies that became even more popular.

This Thanksgiving, my mini Black and White Buttermilk chess pies are being made with gratitude for all the sacrifices my many family members have made to raise their next generations to be wholesome and optimistic and with better career opportunities than theirs. May we all be able to pay that forward, with thanksgiving.