Steel Magnolia’s Lemon Cream Pie

I’m in Houston finally in search of the elusive Southern hospitality which I capture through this dedicated post on Steel Magnolia’s Lemon Cream Pie. Did you grow up with Rom Coms and murder mysteries set in the South of the USA?

Did the bubble burst for you when you set out to actually find work, friends and family here? That’s the question I had in mind when I spent 1 day trudging through the Dallas FW area with a long layover. Why Houston? No fancy Oil & Gas connection here or stories around gig/rig workers. It was simply because I had a dear friend from my old single days in Bengaluru (called Bangalore back then) who lives here now.

Magnolia has a mild lemony fragrance

Her place is a lovely old, remodeled house in a quiet neighborhood which she is busy trying to do up. She made baked Tilapia (a familiar river fish), roasted broccoli and couscous which was delicious. I love fish. She and I have a shared history of growing up in Kolkata with many fishy tales in common. She got coffee because I love it and made the guest room ready for me.

There’s a magnolia tree right in front of her doorway. This is the first time that I have actually smelt a magnolia flower. This one seems to be Magnolia Grandiflora (Southern Magnolia). Search engines inform me these are state flowers of Mississippi and Louisiana.

She has lived and worked in Houston now for almost 14 years now. And I have fond memories of us back in Bangalore taking weekend trips and living the single life as young 20 somethings. Back then we had long conversations sharing our hopes and dreams of making it big in life.

She followed her dreams and now she has a beautiful daughter who celebrates her 11th birthday later in August. I have met her a few times when she would come home to Kolkata to meet her parents. She has reached out with updates over time. I was surprised at how much her daughter had grown- physically and also mentally.

She used to be a fan of Paw Patrol and now it’s Minecraft. She’s a Vanguard scholar in her school and particularly fond of Mathematics. She has turned out to be a sensitive, intelligent and sharp girl who is perhaps far more mature than we were at her age.

A jumble of memories and moments

As I talked to my friend and her daughter I sometimes forgot that her daughter is only a kid now. She is able to tell us about somethings which appear beyond wise to me. And then she would do something really silly or exasperating and her mother would then turn to me with her “I told you so” look. 🙂

My friend here has learnt a lot about the local life and customs – perhaps in her process of trying to be a good wife, daughter in law and mother in her previous marriage. She had her fair share of ups and downs. What amazes me is how far she’s come from what I knew her to be when we were younger.

She now works, takes care of her daughter and 3 dogs. Her partner does help and support but she is pretty independent otherwise. She’s a proud single mother. I see her struggling now to manage with her family here and her much older parents back home.

Being a single child herself, she has no siblings to fall back upon for her responsibilities as a daughter. Her parents supported her through her journey and now they probably need her support. So, I understand the level of stress she undergoes when things are topsy turvy sometimes.

Stranger than fiction Lemon Cream Pie Chef

Her difficulties through a messy divorce, health scares and then struggling to find a certain level of stability in a new house, a new company and a new relationship with her current partner is not unique. Perhaps some of you have gone through this yourselves over the last 3-4 years of tumultuous changes since Covid. But, it’s quite a relief to see that she’s still going strong and her never say die spirit remains intact.

She ruefully states that they don’t cook full Indian meals as often at home. But she does cook almost every day for her daughter and talks now about how she should make more eggs. And I dont know whether to laugh or cry.

How much will she take on her shoulders, good lord! Funnily enough, when I offer to cook, she immediately wants to do it herself. Seriously, in addition to everything else she does at home and outside!?

May I point out this as the eternal problem with mothers. This is a tongue-in-cheek recognition of a trait similar to my mother back at home. She insists on doing most things herself and then rues the fact that nobody else is helping her with the chores. She takes on more than she can possibly finish and then gets super annoyed. Perhaps with herself when the job is half done or not done to her own taste or satisfaction.

Did I just describe your mother as well? Ummm….have I hit upon a nugget of truth somewhere of all kinds of unnecessary internalized guilt and pain. Well, if only the men would read our minds!

How about putting this up in neon lights all around town?

Houston calling Lemon Cream Pie Lovers

We did explore a bit of different neighborhoods around town which is pretty right now with Crepe Myrtles blooming in every colour. How about having a Crepe Myrtle festival? I mean everybody goes gaga about Cherry blossom season in Japan. If you ask me, the summer colours here are equally if not more stunning. But yes, there’s no ticketed events for that or a national/local holiday for people to enjoy these with their friends/family. People are busy working away.

That’s what I notice. I do get a chance to sample a few of the local favourites.

A Tex Mex meal with my friend, her daughter and partner at a new restaurant they wanted to try- Alma. Nothing to do with online therapy site which I discovered later was the other alternative webaddress corresponding to this search.

But come to think of it- conversations with friends, good food and a good evening spent with loved ones is an important form of therapy. We order a round of margaritas which was to celebrate our reunion now and an early celebration of her daughter’s birthday.

I rather enjoyed my order of Royce’s plate which allowed me to sample Shrimp Brochette and the Beef Fajitas. There was also a Chicken Mole Enchilada which I didn’t enjoy as much. Clearly I liked the beef here but it was a much smaller portion which was just right as a portion size for me.

Lemon Cream Pie in your face

This was right before a beautiful candlelit jazz concert that is worth capturing as a wonderful memory of a Friday evening.

Two young people joined in vocals with the older and experienced musicians- Woody witt Jazz band at the Resurrection MCC church which seemed like a suitable venue for that concert with great sound acoustics.

After the concert as I went up to congratulate them on an excellent performance, the young gentleman cutely apologised- “Sorry, I’m all sweaty“. And I had to reassure him that we would ignore that for the time being. The music more than made up for his little insecurity about not being 100% presentable.

The lady singer was super tall- so I complimented her and she immediately replied, “I’m not that tall. I got heels on“. I checked out her heels and they were quite snazzy. Though I must add, what a pain to walk around and perform in them. (So extra points for making that effort on top of everything else!)

I wouldn’t wear heels now, though I did that a lot in the past at work. Probably one of the reasons I developed joint pains as I aged.

We were joking about tall women and heels. I saw exactly that again the next evening when we went to see another theater performance. There was a lady amongst the audience (perhaps 6 feet plus) wearing 4 inch plus heels. We understand there’s an Amazonian connection but sometimes people do stretch it a lot.

I will be shushed now for being really nasty towards beautiful ladies. It may well turn out that they really need to do a lot of lifting of things to top shelves of larders and lofts without the help of ladders. I don’t blame them especially if their men are useless bums lounging around in sports bars, malls and pool tables.

Lemon Cream Pie Inspiration

After we left the concert, her partner suggested to try some pies at a place called the House of Pies.

I have fond memories of walking with my husband exploring the neighborhood when we lived in Lavender Street in Singapore. There was this place called Windowsill Pies which I remember visiting and that actually closed shop later. That was probably my first experience of visiting a pie place.

This House of Pies was much larger, a mindboggling array of pies and the portion sizes were beyond belief. We all ordered different pies and her partner mentioned that his father loved desserts especially apple pies. I tasted a bit of the apple pie he ordered and it was really good.

My friend mentioned that she makes v good pies. She recently made one for Father’s Day for his family. She intends to make another one for 4th of July holiday with them. I informed that nobody made any pies for me- not for Father’s Day or Mother’s Day. That’s when she offered to make a Lemon Pie for me and share the recipe. Yayyyy! 🙂

I was recommended a fresh Peach Pie- a great idea. Peaches are in season and it was delicious. I also remembered there are many different kinds of fruits in my family. So fruity pie seemed very apt.

Her daughter struggled to finish her custard filled bun (called cream puff) and I ended up helping them finish.

She was laughing amazed at how much I could actually eat. My friend simply said- “She really loves desserts“. But truth is I was in food coma and passed out immediately as soon as we got home. Serves me right for my gluttony. 🙂

Taking the Bear to Downtown Houston

Saturday started with a spa visit which was a special treat for me since my body was acting up after the long flight and sleep timings getting messed up. My friend had thoughtfully booked it for us and I did enjoy it along with her helping me to shop for a few essentials.

We went out later to downtown Houston in the afternoon to catch Drunk Shakespeare show which I had heard about and tried to catch in New York. Later we realised that day was dedicated to gay pride.

As we queued up for the show, someone came to check our tickets and IDs. Because I think, you need that to get into the show where alcohol is served. A young couple in front of us showed their IDs- the guy had just turned 21. So, the ticket checker gamely teased, “Man, you just managed to squeeze in and I don’t get the pleasure of throwing you out“.

I didn’t have my ID on me, my friend reassured me that since she had booked the tickets, her ID would do. But, I was still stopped.

I told the ticket checker; I’m an illegal immigrant and hence I don’t have an ID.

Drunk Shakespeare has its moments

Have you actually experienced this twist of irony reliving a feeling of utter helplessness mingled with mad hilarity.

She quickly assessed whether I was being sassy or rude and decided to give me a second chance. This time I nicely offered to show her an electronic copy of my ID and laughed at her double take. She was sporting enough to let me go now without actually checking.

I didn’t have to use the next line “I’m older than your Mamma“. That might have pushed things over to the other side of unnecessary offensiveness.

Anyways, we entered, got a welcome drink shot and also ordered a drink.

The show turned out to be a burlesque take on Romeo & Juliet which defies any useful description. Let’s say you should experience it yourselves. I laughed a lot and probably peed a bit in my pants. That should be good enough recommendation. It may be a bit too much for people with refined sensibilities.

Immersive Barhopping in Lemon Cream Pie Land

We left in high spirits after the show and walked across the street to a nice restaurant where we met her partner for dinner. He lives close by and showed us around some of the good places to eat, drink and hangout.

We had dinner at Tavern by Hearsay which turned out to be a cosy cocktail lounge bar. My friend and I reminisced about our bar hopping days as single ladies when Tavern in Bengaluru used to be a frequent haunt.

No connection between the two Taverns I presume but I may be wrong. Food here was definitely way better and it is a quieter place. Particularly liked the Monte Cristo Egg Rolls we ordered as starters. I managed to finally eat some Shrimps and Grits which I had read about and heard from others. Also liked the Jalapeno drink and the Bread Pudding we ordered.

My friend had ordered a Shepherd’s Pie which was really excellent- perhaps one of the best I have tasted. And her partner ordered a Bangers and Mash which was top notch. I loved my first taste of Shrimp and Grits and I learnt a bit more about that remoulade sauce in it. Though I must confess the portion sizes were really large, it was very heavy and I needed to get a doggy bag to carry some leftovers back home.

The heavy meal called for a post dinner walk and we caught some street art, murals and people reveling- some of them were clearly celebrating the pride day in Houston.

We did discuss about how abortion laws are now a touchy subject here in Houston. I mentioned to her partner that I had myself gone through abortion in my younger days and he seemed to be a good listener. He shared some of his stories as well over the last few years. I was touched by being trusted with some of his own personal experiences and memories. There maybe something about lemon cream pie.

What amazed me the most was the striking parallels between our lives. Some of our stories, family backgrounds, work and relationship struggles have a lot of similarities. Does that mean, we are as people not very different though there seems to be so much of difference in our surroundings and distance between our hometowns.

How much Lemon Juice does it take

We went to another bar later- a speakeasy club called Kanpai Club which was an extension to a Sushi place called Hando in a hip neighborhood. I was introduced to a few cool drinks there and I had my first taste of mezcal based cocktails and cachaca.

I think I rather liked the cocktails there which the friendly bartender offered. He also shared some more details like how much of lemon juice he actually uses in a day. And what would it cost to keep someone to squeeze it every day (making the ingredients from scratch) instead of buying lemon juice from a large-scale supplier. Who can guess that?

Anyways, I understand the concept behind it- just interesting trivia for those who want more depth and details for a longer conversation around the jobs to be done in F&B. (Psst- the dry dull uninspired answer is 3 bottles, 30 minutes and perhaps minimum wage labour).

In the course of the conversation the bartender shared that the same drink which we enjoyed there for 4 times the price would perhaps be available at a less expensive place for $5. Maybe he was trying to explain branding, marketing and the hoohaa around experience of speakeasy coming at a premium.

Tangy take on Lemon Cream Pie

Alas, I actually had a fair taste of that over the years so I came across a bit stony eyed. Nothing to do with the Tokyo Layover cocktail which might have given a Lost in Translation kind of an ambiguous impression.

We also learnt about Suntori tactics and the workaround for the freethinking crew. Anyways full marks for innovation, open frank faced easy friendly glib talk which is perhaps essential for the job that he had on hand of listening and entertaining.

Last of the Oaxacans (Pronounced Wah hah kahn) and Welcome to Yam rock are my picks for the drinks we tried. I think the yam cocktail drink was also surprising and complex with the guava juice thrown into the mix.

My friend shared that this was the first place where she and her partner met a year ago. They also returned to celebrate their one-year anniversary together at the same spot. Sweet story and a shared love for cocktails perhaps helps to keep the conversation flowing.

These are the sweet days of dating which made me very happy for them and had a whiff of nostalgia when I remembered the early days of my life in Singapore. My husband would still make an effort then to surprise me with different venues for date nights. We had tried different places with different kinds of cuisine, cocktails, craft beers, specialty events and live music which was a common point of interest.

I wish my friend and her partner the best of luck for this year ahead which maybe significant in more ways than one.

Lemon Cream Pie and Stray pets

My friend and her partner have adopted strays in the past few years. The youngest orphan puppy they have adopted is a Plott Hound who is apparently good at tracking bears. He has a beautiful loud bark but has an uncanny habit of annoying everyone. He is just a year old (7 years old in human years) so very active, clueless and difficult to train now.

The first person he annoyed is Paisley their 11-yr old Westie – the oldest in the team who has the fiercest bark possible. Don’t go by her size- that one is a funny feisty one. She has an itchy skin and does this weird wriggly dance around beds and wooden corners to get to parts of her body she can’t scratch herself. I have deep empathy for Paisley having gone through vexing skin problems myself. It’s a condition that keeps coming back. I gave her a nice oil massage with warm coconut oil and she looks a bit funny after that treatment.

Zola, (her partner’s petdog) is a weird mix- a Pitbull, dalmatian and chihuahua combination. Have you heard that one before? A snuggle bug who is really gentle and lovable. Anyways, with those three fighting and her daughter in the mix, there’s never a dull moment in their lives.

Lemon Cream Pie and grocery runs

In between our various excursions, my friend and I managed to do a few grocery runs. She mentioned that her daughter loves ghee rice and khichudi. As luck would have it, we faced a couple of days of cooling thunderstorms. Perfect weather for khichudi and begun bhaja which her daughter loved.

Having her home for school summer holidays is a treat but also leads to excessive worrying about her meals. My friend is stretched worrying whether she was spending enough time with her daughter or me.

Like, even if I reassure her that I love cooking, she will insist on me not cooking. She takes it as a challenge to step up to make some favourite dishes to regain a sense of control.

Ah well, I can be a bully at times. I did insist upon making some paneer dish, a mutton curry, some breakfast items like scrambled eggs, akuri, upama, luchi and raw jackfruit curry (her favourite)- called enchor in Bengali or Kathal in Hindi.

Some of these home-cooked meals in addition to all the eating, drinking and shopping outside made me feel right at home.

I do see her making the effort which overwhelms me. Also appreciate her partner and daughter adjusting. Obviously, we had our usual sisterly fights when I was mean to her. I pointed out about her constant fretting and fussing which may have ticked her off.

With all the stresses in her life, I wanted her to be honest and accept whatever help we were all trying to give her. Routines maybe getting messed up. She likes to be independent but there is a strong dependency/attachment. That’s something all of us are very aware of right now.

Even as she ran around, she made sure that we tried a couple of favourite restaurants with speciality cuisines around town. Must mention the famed Texas barbeque place around town- The Pitroom. Also a very lovely dinner at a Peruvian Japanese restaurant, Pacha Nikkei, where we had the most delicious Ceviche as a last farewell dinner. We got some free drinks thanks to the friendly bartender there and I had my first tasting of Pisco a Peruvian Chilean brandy which was quite a knockout drink.

Lemons for Lemon Cream Pie

She has made Lemon Cream Pie many times. The first pie she ever made was actually Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. But this is the pie she makes most often of all the pies.

Why? Because, it is a light pie and easy to make and it hardly requires any baking- almost like a no-bake pie. The sour lemony taste balances out the excessive sweetness of the condensed milk and the heaviness of the whipping cream. There’s not too much of pie crust here- so overall it doesn’t feel that heavy.

Hence, she has recommended this for those who are eager to try their hands at making pies at home. She had checked a few recipes earlier and found this recipe online the easiest to follow.

She has modified it a bit over time through several rounds of successes and failure. Though with this pie she has perhaps not had many fails. Only tricky thing is perhaps when you fold the lemon juice into the condensed milk. There is a slight possibility of curdling if you beat it too much instead of folding it gently. Got it, MJ!

I’m the lucky one who actually gets to taste this Lemon Cream Pie. 🙂 How it helps is to know what you are supposed to be making when you try it later at your end. (Did someone talk about an old film called Copycat?)

Here’s the tried and tested recipe from her end with all her love for 4th of July. I must say, this is a great dish to try- sweet but nice lemony fragrance and just light enough to have at least 2-3 slices if you have a craving for pies.

Footnote

I’m a helper -not your ho

I’m tired of this life that I don’t understand

I try not to talk too much

Because what’s there for me to say that is of any consequence

My fake make belief world of beautiful moments and memories

Is really a forced pitstop for those who wanted something bigger and better

To make them move towards the next sunset or sunrise

If I tell them that truly everyday I only feel a lot of pain

And I cry at the hopelessness and helplessness

That comes with not being able to understand

And more so not being able to really do much

About your pains or mine

I cant even fake smile and fake cry

What I shed are real. What I share is v v real

It’s real for me…so I don’t understand when you say

It’s just water and nothing grows with salt water

Is it scary for you that I shed unashamedly?

That I unmask so brutally the face that you put on

With your masks your makeups and your puffed up

Collagen injections and guns

I have been trying to sleep in a quiet bed

Perhaps a grave or simply a corner

Where I am invisible and I don’t really exist

Because that’s how I really feel

If you are so miniscule- how can you make a difference

And if you make no difference why are you there in the first place

If like a domino tile, you just need to fall when triggered by another

Or you push the other in the sequence of your timing

Then you might as well not suffer from the free falling

And yet you do- a million times in your own head rather than with blows from the outside

Just to breathe you shed water from your eyes- that’s a really faulty engine somewhere.

I just like easy women. Easier the better.

He said that in his matter-of-fact voice

And I realized that irony has a deeper twist

Which makes you appear way too sunkissed and missed

When in reality it’s nothing like that in your own inside out view.  

You made it so easy and then he turned around and said

I don’t respect you babes.

It’s all money money money– same person same smile

But you transfer and impose your dirt on my face

So that you can appear to have more grace

You can laugh in my face coolly declaring

She’s not right in the head and needs therapy

Did you actually look into whether it was you who

Pushed her actually to the brink of collapse?

Have you seen Rear Window by any chance

Truth is Stranger than Fiction when it comes to

Getting another to do your dance.

4th of July, I do not lie

My husband wants to marry for the 4th time

Can you find Sabrina the witch

I had forgotten about that old AC DC switch

Any woman will do for you

Then take that you moron and sleep through

Another blessed peaceful night

Of pretending to be a wonderful peace bearing kite.

-Melting Lemon Drop (Written on 26th June 2025)