A Few New Zealand Pie Recipes
New Zealand gas stations don’t just sell fuel for cars. The pie display the BP gas station — or petrol station as they say in NZ. If there is one thing I’ve learned on my World Piece journey so far, it’s that New Zealand loves pie. Kiwis (as New Zealanders are affectionately called) love pie […]
Pumpkin Pie Palooza Kicks Off With…Pumpkins
This was all H’s idea. As for me, after a verrrry long summer of pie slavery, I mean pie baking, I was quite relieved that the Pitchfork Pie Stand was closed for the season. But no. Halloween is H’s favorite holiday. And apparently pumpkin pie is one of his favorite pies, because no sooner did […]
A Tribute to Frank Barnett — and his Pecan Pie
Another thing I managed to fit into my tight New York City schedule was lunch with an old roommate of mine, Carol Barnett-Stark. I lived in Manhattan when I was 25 years old. I had moved back to the U.S. from Nairobi, Kenya and started a coffee import business I called Livingstone Provisions. (Back when […]
Crazy for Ham Balls
No, ham balls are not pig testicles. On Monday I was invited to “dinner” by Eldon’s mayor, Shirley Stacey. First of all, let it be known when someone invites you to “dinner” in Southeast Iowa, they do not mean come over after work. Dinner is served promptly at noon. “Supper” is the term for the evening […]
Revisiting Grandma Genny’s Workplace…and Her Crumble Topping Recipe!
City Clerk Ann Cullinan with my Grandma Genny’s recipe Life back in Iowa can often be strange and wonderful. It seems every week brings a new surprise, often in the form of a renewed connection to my roots. Roots I didn’t even know I still had. I came back to my birthplace of Ottumwa, Iowa […]
Pies, Cupcakes, Can’t We All Just Get Along?
It started in October, when Nation’s Restaurant News reported that trendspotter and San Francisco-based restaurant consultant Andrew Freeman predicted 2011 was going to be the Year of the Pie. “If I had one trend — one trend — of the year that I could predict, that’s why it’s in the No. 1 position, this would […]
A Funeral in Front of the House
You can run but you can’t hide. From grief, I mean. I was reminded of this on Saturday when at 8:00 a.m. I saw Brenda Kremer, owner of Kremer Funeral Home in Eldon, walk up the path to my house with two men in tow. All were carrying folding chairs. I knew why. I was […]
My 16-Year-Old Niece Learns to Make Pie(s)
In case you were thinking that in preparation for my upcoming mega-pie-eating stint at the Iowa State Fair I’m cutting back on my pie consumption, think again! I left Portland for LA exactly one week ago and in the past week I’ve made — and eaten — three pies. Pie was a priority this weekend […]
We Picked Blueberries Too & Made Pie-in-a-Jar
Sauvie Island Farms was good to us. We came home not only with 25 pounds of strawberries between us, but also 9 pounds of blueberries. Or “Early Blues” as the farm calls them.And what to do with all those blueberries? Yes, of course, make pie, but in this case I tried a new style of […]
Strawberry Fields Forever (& Afterward Strawberry Pie)
A morning spent picking strawberries at Sauvie Island Farms proved bountiful indeed. Wait until you see the pictures of the pies we made (to be posted later). Wait until you see the picture of my belly so full and protruding with pie that my fellow berry picker/pie baker Alison (pictured below with her husband Thomas) […]