CHAPTER XIX.
MARY IS TAUGHT TO MAKE PASTRY, PATTIES AND "ROSEN KUCHEN." Mary's Aunt taught her to make light, flaky pastry and pies of every description.

In this part of Bucks County a young girl's education was considered incomplete without a knowledge of pie-making.

Some of the commonest varieties of pies made at the farm were "Rivel Kuchen," a pie crust covered with a mixture of sugar, butter and flour crumbled together; "Snitz Pie," composed of either stewed dried apples or peaches, finely mashed through a colander, sweetened, spread over a crust and this covered with a lattice-work of narrow strips of pastry laid diamond-wise over the top of the pie; "Crumb" pies, very popular when served for breakfast, made with the addition of molasses or without it; Cheese pies, made of "Smier Kase;" Egg Custard, Pumpkin and Molasses pie.
Pies were made of all the different fruits and berries which grew on the farm.

When fresh fruits were not obtainable, dried fruits and berries were used.

Pie made from dried, sour cherries was an especial favorite of Farmer Landis, and raisin or "Rosina" pie, as it was usually called at the farm, also known as "Funeral" pie, was a standby at all seasons of the year, as it was invariably served at funerals, where, in old times, sumptuous feasts were provided for relatives and friends, a regular custom for years among the "Pennsylvania Germans," and I have heard Aunt Sarah say, "In old times, the wives of the grave-diggers were always expected to assist with the extra baking at the house where a funeral was to be held." It would seem as if Bucks County German housewives did not like a dessert without a crust surrounding it.
The Pennsylvania German farmers' wives, with few exceptions, serve the greatest variety of pies at a meal of any class of people I know; not alone as a dessert at twelve o'clock dinner, but frequently serve several different varieties of pie at breakfast and at each meal during the day.