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You are here: Home / Pie / What does pie mean to you

What does pie mean to you

06/11/2014 By Kate McDermott-Art of the Pie 4 Comments

What does pie mean to you

It may come as no surprise to you that I make pie just about every day. And, if I’m not making pie, I’m thinking, dreaming, reading, and studying it. It was an unexpected meeting that has turned into a serious and long lasting love affair. Art of the Pie is going into its seventh year now, and that’s not counting the years of practicing, exploration, and experimentation that came first. I find the subject of Pie, in all its many manifestations, endlessly fascinating. Yesterday in a conversation I was asked, “What does pie mean to you?”

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I am asked that question often. My answer is simple but does take some explaining. 

I was a pretty quiet and shy child growing up. A very pronounced lisp, due to a “tied tongue“, required twelve years of speech therapy to adapt the way I formed words so I could be understood. My mom decided against the surgical clip that would be a quick but invasive fix. I started to do things with my hands early on…music, sewing, cooking, and especially baking.

Sadie who lived upstairs in the caretakers apartment was my first baking teacher. I think I will always associate after school cookies and tea with liberal amounts of milk and sugar with her. Although she passed away years ago, the Irish lilt to her words, and her warm welcoming hugs are with me to this day. In her gentle way, she taught me that baking from the heart always tastes best, even if it doesn’t turn out quite like the picture in the magazine. I baked with her a lot after school up until I was nine.

When we moved a few blocks away to a house with a bigger and brighter kitchen, I started to bake on my own. Of course, I tried cookies first. My favorites were chocolate chip. I liked making them for my mom, dad, and brother. I made batches to take to school. Then I started in on cakes for birthdays for friends. Next I learned to make bread, a practice which I love even more than pie making. I always made time for baking something to giveaway and share. When I was sad or lonely, into the kitchen I went, out I came with a plate full of something to share and felt much better!

When I married and started a family, I baked nearly every day. When we moved into a new house, the first thing I would do before unpacking, would be to bake bread. When the loaf had cooled a bit, we gathered at the big round table. We didn’t need much in the way of words. We were content sharing this simple moment together. Now more than a house, we had made a home. And, so it continues.

With my hands and heart, and the simplest of ingredients, I roll out a tender dough, place  inside a filling bursting with ripe sweet fruit, bake it until it is all bubbling and steaming on the inside and golden brown outside, and then happily give it away.

Simply put, what pie means to me is that it is a way that I can share the love that is inside of me.

How about you?

If you care to share a comment, I’d love to hear about what Pie means to you.

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Filed Under: Pie Tagged With: Art of the Pie

4 Thoughts on What does pie mean to you
    Jenni
    11 Jun 2014
    9:12am

    Lovely, Kate. Just lovely. =) I learned to drink tea with copious amounts of milk and sugar from my British grandmother. <3 I also love your ritual "Christening" your home by baking bread. Very special.

    I don't eat, sleep and dream pie the way you do, but if "put to the question," I'd say that pie is the epitome of a homey dessert. It's not necessarily fancy, but it does take a bit of time to put together. When you give a pie, or a slice of pie, to someone, it almost makes them a part of the family. "I love you enough to bake you pie."

    I also love savory pie as much as sweet pies. Wrap a crust around anything, and I am a very happy girl.

    Thank you for sharing what pie means to you. <3

    Reply
      Kate McDermott-Art of the Pie
      11 Jun 2014
      9:38am

      “I love you enough to bake you pie.” Such a beautiful sentiment, Jenni!

      Reply
    Lona Wilbur
    11 Jun 2014
    10:47am

    “It always comes down to Pie!” Saying came with another for me with another good democrat friend who is a Blue Ribbon Grand Prize Pie maker.
    Great story! Pie brings good memories, both my late Grandmothers baked yummy Pies always cooked with good feelings in their hearts too!
    I love the aroma, smell of the ingredients baked together that steams out of the Pies while hot out of the oven. Seeing the steam piping out the top of the Pie, standing over the Pie, sweet smell steaming up into the air.
    Agree, love creating savory Pies too, seafood pot pie with saffron! Excellent way to use left over seafood.

    Reply
      Kate McDermott-Art of the Pie
      11 Jun 2014
      11:04am

      Ooo, I love a good seafood pot pie, too!

      Reply

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