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½ cup ice water (about)

For Deep-Fat Frying

2 quarts vegetable oil (about)

1. For the filling: Bring the apples and water to a boil in a large, heavy nonreactive saucepan over moderate heat. Adjust the heat so the water barely ripples, cover, and simmer for about 1 hour or until the apples are soft. Uncover, reduce the heat to its lowest point, and simmer until all water has evaporated. Mix in the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and cool to room temperature.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the pastry: Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl, then, using a pastry blender, cut in the lard until the texture of coarse meal. Add the ice water slowly, forking all the while, just until the pastry holds together.

3. Roll the pastry slightly thinner than pie crust on a lightly floured surface, then cut into rounds using a 6-inch saucer as a template. Gather and reroll the scraps; you should have six pastry rounds.

4. Scoop about 1/3 cup of the apple mixture into the center of each round, moisten the edges all around with water, then fold over. Pinch the edges to seal, crimp with the tines of a fork, then prick one side of each pie several times to allow steam to escape.

5. Pour the oil to a depth of 1½ to 2 inches in a deep-fat fryer or large, deep skillet; insert a deep-fat thermometer and set over moderately high heat.

6. When the fat reaches 375° F., ease in one pie and fry for 4 to 5 minutes, turning as needed so that both sides brown evenly. Lift to paper toweling to drain. Fry and drain the remaining pies the same way.

7. Serve warm or at room temperature. They’re delicious either way.

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TIME LINE: the people and events that shaped Southern Cuisine

1618

Chief Powhatan dies and his successor vows to rid Virginia of the English.

1619

On December 4, America’s first Thanksgiving is observed at Berkeley Plantation (in what later became Virginia) on the banks of the James River by 38 men from Berkeley Parish, England. The plantation’s three-story red-brick Georgian mansion, built in 1726 and now open to the public, was the birthplace of President William Henry Harrison.

The “brides’ ship” brings 90 young women to Virginia. They are the first females to set foot in the new colony. That same year, 20 Africans arrive aboard a Dutch ship as indentured servants, not as slaves.

1621

America’s first grist mill is built in Jamestown, Virginia.

1624

Only 1,218 colonists remain of the 8,500 sent to the Virginia colony. Some returned to England but the majority died of disease or starvation or were killed by the natives.

Still determined to produce fine wines in their Virginia colony, the English dispatch a French wine specialist to Jamestown. He, too, fails.

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CILE’S CUCUMBER TEA SANDWICHES

MAKES 26 TO 28 SMALL SANDWICHES

Not so long ago when I drove to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to visit Jean Todd Freeman, with whom I’d worked at The Ladies’ Home Journal in New York, she and her sister Cile Freeman Waite gave a little party for me and among the finger foods they served were these superb cucumber sandwiches. I couldn’t get enough of them, so when I began the appetizer chapter for this book, I knew that Cile’s cucumber sandwiches were a “must.” Here’s the recipe she e-mailed me—with a few minor changes. Note: Cile grates the cucumbers and onion by hand, but I pulse them in the food processor until about the texture of lentils: 4 to 5 pulses, then a good scraping of the work bowl, then another 4 to 5 pulses. That’s all it takes. Cile also tells me that if the cucumber seeds are coarse or large, she removes them before she grates the cucumbers. Not necessary if you use the food processor. Left full-size, these cucumber sandwiches can be served as a light lunch or supper.

2 medium cucumbers (about 1 pound), peeled and moderately finely grated (see Note at left)

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped or grated

1½ teaspoons salt

2/3 cup firmly packed mayonnaise (use “light,” if you like)

¼ teaspoon black pepper

One 1-pound loaf thinly sliced, firm-textured white