I was born in 1919 on a large farm in Portersville.

I was No. 8 in a family of 12 children.

My mother, the late Susan Shidemantle, was a wonderful cook.

She baked buckets full of cookies that she shared with neighborhood children along with all of us.

Every Saturday my mother would bake eight or nine fruit pies from the canned fruit she kept in the fruit cellar.

I was 13 years old and mother was ill on a Saturday, so she asked me to make the pies.

I had watched her make the pies my whole life and was excited to do so.

I made all the crusts, pared the apples and prepared two apple pies, two cherry pies, two lemon sponge and two coconut crème pies.

The pies all turned out good and from then on I helped mother bake pies.

That was 80 years ago and I still make my famous coconut crème for church lunches or holidays.

Grace Cheeseman

Portersville

1 pie crust (already baked)3 cups of milk (set aside 1/4 cup)¾ cups sugarPinch of salt¼ cup corn starch1 tsp. vanilla4 eggs separated (keep whites at room temperature)1 cup coconut (set aside ¼ cup for meringue)Bring milk to a boil. Stir in all ingredients except egg whites, stir constantly and do not boil over.When thickened, fill the already baked crust with mixture.Beat the egg whites. When peaking, add 6 tablespoons of sugar, keep whipping till fluffy.Take a spatula and spoon meringue over the coconut custard mixture and then sprinkle remaining coconut on the tips of the meringue.Place pie in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.<B></B>