CHIEF BAKER PAUL YATES with a LEMON CHESS PIE!

As a reader of my Coffeehouse Mysteries, Paul found me on Facebook. I was intrigued to learn about his occupation. Because many of us on this blog write about (or enjoy reading about) professionals in the culinary field, I invited Paul to guest blog for us. I'm so happy he agreed! Please welcome, Paul Yates... ~ Cleo Coyle



Paul Yates

 As a professional baker, it is easy to let my job become just “a job”, and forget the enjoyment many derive from the products we bake. I work at Pineland Bakery, a family-owned bakery that has been serving the Waynesboro, GA community for over 30 years.

In the five years I have been here, I have been head cashier, sales manager, IT manager, marketing director, coffee brewer, and most recently, chief baker. Actually, most times I wear most of those caps at the same time!



Pineland Bakery, Waynesboro, GA



Paul's Bear Claws

I love good food, as my waistline can testify! My dear wife is a wonderful cook, who has had excellent cooking techniques handed down to her by her mother, and I myself was no stranger to the kitchen as I grew up. I was fortunate to be surrounded by family who could really, REALLY cook, and very little of it was actually GOOD for me!

Paul's Chocolate-Frosted Doughnuts



(Hungry yet?!)
Paul's Cheese Danish



As a child, I used to spend quite a bit of time with my great-grandmother, a dear lady we all called Granny Clyde. She was old, born in 1899, and she saw a lot of history before she died during her mid-nineties. I remember seeing pictures of her during the Roaring Twenties, and thinking how incredibly gorgeous she was.

She grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, and, despite her relation to certain feuding families, managed to attend college and become a teacher.

She was one of the first women in her area to teach poverty-stricken African-Americans how to read, so that they could vote. She was also a tremendously accomplished cook and baker, and I always enjoyed visiting her, especially since she fed us such great homemade food!



Paul's Apple Fritters



One of Granny Clyde's favorites was called “Lemon Chess Pie”. It was a baked custard pie, like an egg custard, but was much richer. It's actually insanely rich, but so wonderful, you don't care about the calories it contains! The recipe has seen a few changes over the years, but it has only gotten better with the tweaking.

One of the qualities that sets it apart from other pies is the "Melt-in-your-mouth" crust that forms on top of the pie as a result of the margarine and sugar in the filling. If only I could figure out how to recreate just this one element! I could cut the calories way down!


Ok, so enough with the chit-chat....here's that recipe!






Lemon Chess Pie

Ingredients:


1 ½ cup sugar
4 eggs
1 ½ Tbsp. Vinegar
½ cup margarine, melted
1 tsp. Lemon extract
¼ tsp. Salt
9 inch unbaked pie crust


Directions: Mix all ingredients. Pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake @ 325 F for 40-45 minutes.

On a final note, I would like to thank Cleo
for the opportunity to share
this recipe with the readers of this blog.

~ Paul Yates




Thank YOU, Paul, for sharing yourself,
your memories, and your fantastic recipe!
Blessings to you and your family. ~ Cleo

You can visit
Pineland Bakery online,
by clicking here.


You can also "Like"
Pineland Bakery on Facebook and
"follow" Pineland Bakery on Twitter.

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