Mawmie’s Recipe for Love: A Mother’s Day Offering

Mawmie’s Recipe for Love: A Mother’s Day Offering

Every Mother’s Day, I find myself thinking about the women who helped shape me—none more vividly than my maternal grandmother, Mawmie.

Mawmie had beautiful hands with long, painted nails that sparkled into her late 80s. 

Mawmie’s mitts were her prized part, and she protected them with Palmolive and lots of lotion. Before I could drive, Mawmie was convinced her genetic contribution would one day pay off for me. And as life would have it, years later I became a parts model. 

In addition to being sorta psychic, Mawmie knew more about food than any person I’ve ever known. Mawmie was a force in the kitchen and a queen of comfort, culinary and otherwise. Together with my grandfather, Pawpie, ran beloved restaurants in New Orleans, including The Buck 49 on Bourbon Street, Pearl Oyster Bar, and The Peppermill (where her recipes were enjoyed for almost 50 years). 

They were a match made in culinary heaven!

Mawmie’s pantries and refrigerators (yes, she had more than one of each) were loaded large with goodies, and her stove was always hot and bubbling, while the scent of slow-simmered love filled the house.

On a hot Summer’s day, I loved nothing more than to fall into the cool pillow of Mawmie’s embrace as she wrapped me in her loving arms and satin muumuu. Her affection, like her table, was always abundant. 

Whether Mawmie and Pawpie were hosting a party, or having a holiday dinner, or celebrating St. Joseph, a decadent spread was sure to be enjoyed: fried calamari, cannelloni, macaroni, corn bread dressing, oyster patties, shrimp remoulade, crawfish bisque, crab au gratin, ham, lamb, candied yam…followed by: spumoni, cannolli, casata cake, lemon ice and fig cookies from Brocato’s, and Doberge cake from Gambino’s.

Whatever the occasion, Al Martino, Connie Francis and Frank Sinatra would play in the background, over sounds of children playing in the pool and adults laughing loudly, arguing, and laughing again…

Forget “clean eating”—in New Orleans, indulgence was a language of love. And Mawmie was fluent. Unlike the minimalist-monotonous menus of my other life in California, where wheatgrass and apple cider vinegar were enforced by the spoonful, in New Orleans, food was celebrated and always abundant. I visited the Big Easy during summers and holidays, during which I was a kid in a sweeet candy store! There, I spent my days blissed-out and bloated. Forget “clean eating”—in New Orleans, indulgence was a language of love. And Mawmie was fluent.

But once in a while I’d respect my mother’s wishes by refusing certain foods. My relatives, but especially Mawmie, had a hard time accepting any rejections of good New Orleans fare.

I still laugh thinking about the time I told her I’d gone vegetarian. She looked at me for a long beat, then calmly said,

“Well then I’m just gonna cut you a little piece of veal.”

“But my ma…” I hesitated.

“You tell your motha she’s a jackass,” she replied, deadpan but smiling. Then she pointed at me with a long, lacquered finger and said, “You eat whatever you want.”

A veal po-boy was placed in front of me, and I swear her smile got bigger with every bite I took.

Mawmie passed away many years ago, but her spirit—equal parts sass and sweetness—lives on in everything I cherish: food, family, love, laughter, and of course… lotion.

In her honor, I’m sharing one of her legendary recipes for Mother’s Day. It’s written in her own hand, and like everything she created, it’s full of flavor and love. Not sure if there’s a clean California version using maple syrup instead of Karo, but here’s the original pecan pie Mawmie used to make—sweet, Southern, and delicious!

Best Pecan Pie

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup Light Karo Syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 dash salt
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 8 or 9 inch unbaked pie shell

Brown butter golden (do not burn), let cool. In separate bowl add all other ingredients in order listed; stir. Blend in braised butter well. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 425° for 10 min. Then lower oven to 325° for 40 mins. Serve warm with ice cream on top or plain – great!