"Give a Piece a Chance." — Books. Blog. Pie Classes. And a Pinch of Activism.
I live on a farm in Iowa where barn cats are part of the landscape. You don’t go to a pet store and buy a cat; they just show up on your property, then it’s up to you whether you make them feel welcome to stay. I’ve always been a dog person. But cats are
Grief has struck again. I just lost my closest friend in Iowa, Patti Durflinger, to cancer. I was by no means Patti’s only close friend, she was a good and true friend to countless others. She was also a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a sister, and a daughter. She was a lighthouse, living her
I’ve never been a fan of basketball. I don’t like the screech of tennis shoes on the wood floor and the cacophony of whistles and buzzers echoing in the arena. My disdain for basketball has remained fully intact my entire life until this past Saturday when I watched the University of Iowa women play Michigan
When my World Piece book tour finished in March, I had no idea what I was going to do next. I did know, however, that writing World Piece was so taxing I didn’t want to write another book anytime soon. All I knew is that I wanted—needed—a new creative goal, one that would push me
We are making a documentary film called “Pieowa“ about the obsession with pie in Iowa. Really. People are so obsessed with pie they will ride their bikes 500 miles, braving sweltering heat and headwinds over 7 days, just so they can eat it every day! As part of the film we will be covering this
Valerie Van Galder is the creator of the Depressed Cake Shop. Cake may not be pie, but I’m a fan of anything that’s baked for a greater good. The DCS website, which is beautifully designed, reads, “Research has shown that baking is a pursuit that fits a type of therapy known as behavioral activation. Psychologists