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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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