“I need to make pie!”

My neighbor friend told me over the wall that her uncle’s wife is dying, and her uncle feels lost.  “I need to make pie!” he had exclaimed.  His heart is breaking, and he needs to make pie.

What is it about making pie that grounds us, gets us quiet and centered, back at peace with the world, even if just for a few minutes?  Is it the fact of doing something with our hands?  Or making space to do something creative?  Maybe it’s because it’s a solitary activity, one done without a lot of other people?  Perhaps any solitary, creative activity would serve.  Probably so. 

Whatever your reason for needing to make pie – or to eat it – here’s as good as any:  Friday, January 23, is National Pie Day.  It’s official!  Go for it.  Make a pie, buy a pie, but share pie on Friday!  Teach someone else, if you can.  Take a pie to your favorite nonprofit agency for the staff to enjoy, or to the fire station, or to your book club.  Take one to your neighbors.  You’ll be making people very happy and, hey, does it get better than that?

Personally, I’ll be taking pie to my women’s group.  Doesn’t matter where – just know that if you share pie, the world will be a little sweeter, and hearts will be a little happier, even if just for a little while.  Even hearts that are breaking with the loss of a loved one.  May we always be united by love and, if we’re lucky, pie.

Warmly, Rebecca

P.S.  Want ideas for pies to make during winter months?  Check out:  www.piepals.com

There are two kinds of Pie People.  Those who will eat any pie and those who are pie snobs.  I’m the latter.  Both types love pie.  How great is that?

Can you pass on a piece of pie?  It depends?  What about a piece of mass-produced pie?  You know – crust that can bend a fork and overly sweet canned fruit filling?  Maybe, maybe not.  Can you pass on a piece of really good pie – one with a flaky crust and flavorful fruit inside?  Less likely!

But that’s not the point.  There’s passing on a piece of pie, and there’s passing on pie:  the knowledge of how to make good pie and the recipes that go along.  That is passing on pie and is something I value.

Check out these photos that celebrate both of those 2 essential things: 1) teaching others to make pie, the craft of pie, the love that goes into making a delicious pie, and 2) passing on favorite pie recipes.

Look at this gem!  It’s a hand-scribbled recipe shared by a Pie Pal who’s now in her 60’s.  It’s a recipe she’s been making for friends every year for G.O.K. (God Only Knows) how long.  Thanks for sharing it, Chris!  (It was our pie of the month recently).  How many of us have family recipes like this, written out by hand and tucked somewhere in the kitchen?

And check this out:  another Pie Pal teaching her granddaughter how to make a pie.  How sweet is that? 

This is happening all over the country and it makes me very happy.  If you have a pie-teaching story or picture, share it!  The rest of us would love to see you in action, teaching a friend or family member your techniques.

Why does this matter – passing on pie?  Ours is a culture that’s all about fast:  fast food, fast information, fast work, racing through our days.  You know all this.  Even those of us who try to choose a more mellow pace are still swept along sometimes, finding life going too quickly, feeling pressure to keep performing and producing. 

Pie is about slow.  It’s about taking care, doing things by hand, like peeling apples or washing berries or separating eggs.  It’s hands-on, for sure!  It’s about being in the present and humming. 

Back to passing on pie.  If we, those of us who still make pie from scratch, don’t teach the next generation or two how we do it, what will become of our recipes and knowledge?  I’m pretty sure a YouTube video won’t compare to being shown by you how to roll a crust and crimp it.  I’m pretty sure a 30-second clip on Google won’t really help your grandchild understand what “cut in the shortening until it looks like cornmeal” means.  Who will teach children the importance of chilling the dough or using a pie crust shield to prevent the outer edge from burning while waiting for the juices to bubble at the center of a cherry pie?  And who will help the children in your life learn how to weave a lattice?

Please!  Be inspired by this recipe and make a folder full of your favorites to pass on to others in your family.  And, even better, share two or three of your favorite pie recipes here on Pie Pals.  It’s easy to enter your recipe and then you’ll be sharing it with the whole world! 

Please!  Be inspired by this photo and teach someone who’d like to learn how to make pie.  Spend a morning together and create a fabulous memory.  How the pie turns out is irrelevant, even for pie snobs, because it’s the making it that’s good. 

And for sure, someone will eat it.