Bird by Bird, Pie by Pie
Dawn in London, 6AM Sunday 2 November 2008 It’s been three weeks since my last pie post. I’m traveling non-stop (for what will be a total of 8 weeks) and haven’t been able to focus on writing. (If you were living out of a suitcase and having to wash all your undies by hand, you […]
I Was Born Because of Banana Cream Pie
My visit to my parents in L.A. culminated in the baking of a banana cream pie. This pie has great significance in my life because banana cream pie was how my mom got my dad to marry her. If it wasn’t for banana cream pie I would not have been born. Banana Cream was my […]
Don’t Get Mad, Get Busy
Things went from bad to worse at the dog park this week. The woman with the three big dogs was there again, and AGAIN they came toward us, surrounded us, and provoked another attack. But this time I was prepared. I had brought my dad, and we were both armed with big sticks — more […]
Signs of Pie in LA
Today is the first day of my second week in Los Angeles. I woke up with a premonition that something bad might happen to my dog, so I spent 15 extra minutes in bed snuggling with Jack before taking him to the dog park. We usually have the park all to ourselves in the mornings, […]
Pie: Obsession or Just a Nice Dream?
I had a dream last night—about pie. I was at the counter of some travel agency or chamber of commerce and I picked up a brochure. The woman working there behind the counter told me she had just finished taking a graphic design course—a very expensive class, she added—and that she made the brochure herself. […]
My Small-But-Meaningful (and Wrinkled) Apron Collection
Every apron has a story. From Left to Right: 1) a Christmas present from my friend Carolyn, who I’ve known since junior high. This one is my favorite for its rich red color and its small ruffle. But it wrinkles far more than the others and I won’t wear it unless it’s ironed. And I […]
I Did Not Write This, But It Speaks to Why the World Needs More Pie
My mom emailed me this message (see below), one of those forwarded kind that I ALWAYS delete. But this one, well, I don’t know who wrote it, but clearly it was someone who gets the concept that The World Needs More Pie. And I’d like to believe you don’t have to be born before 1979 […]
‘What Am I Doing?’ Baking More, Blogging Less
My friend Susan, a journalist, emailed me an article last week about using Twitter, a new social networking/”micro-blogging” vehicle, to promote your book (or whatever it is you want to promote). I read the article then sent Susan an email telling her what I thought of it, and included one passage of the article that […]
How I Learned to Bake Pie
Everyone always asks me, “How did you learn to bake pie?” I grew up in Iowa and my grandmothers both grew up on farms. With those down-home Midwestern roots you might assume I learned to bake pie as a young girl just by hanging around in my grandmas’ kitchens. As if it’s a rite of […]
Peach Grumble Pie
My theory is that the world needs more pie. If everyone baked more pies, gave more pies away, or just ate more pie, the world would be a better place. This theory is a little bit akin to Robert Fulghum’s advice in “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” in which he […]