Depression-Era Potato Pie

* Place potatoes in a pan and cover with water. Bring to boil.

* Add butter, milk, onions and salt and pepper to the potatoes and water. Add a small amount of the water to the 2 tablespoons flour and use a fork to stir to make a thickening agent. Add to pot with potatoes and water mixture.

* Remove all of the cooked potato slices except about 1 cup, which should be left in pot. Place the removed potatoes into the pie shell. Add 1/2 of the thickened liquid from potatoes and if using meat, add the diced ham. Put on top crust. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for another 45 minutes.

* While pie is baking, simmer the remaining potatoes in liquid, thickening liquid to make a white sauce by adding a little more flour and melted butter, if necessary. Serve sauce over pie.

Makes 6 servings.

Source: NWI Times -

"The recipes are from Susan Gleason of Valparaiso, who saved them from her late grandmother's file, schoolteacher Elsa Riley-Jenkins, born in 1889 and died at age 99.

Raised on a farm near Ripley, W.Va., Elsa began teaching at age 18 during a time when female school teachers had to be unmarried.

She served her potato pie with a salad of "wild greens."