Today Was National Pie Day!

OK, well I'm a bit late with this information (sorry--busy, exciting week around here and on all fronts--yes, I'm still giddy--even three new puppies who, I forget, sleep like newborn babies when they're young as they are chattering as I write this at 12:15am) but I just had to announce that January 23 was National Pie Day, sponsored by the American Pie Council. Of course, I did not have time to bake--or make--a pie yesterday (which is still today for me as I'm still awake blogging this!) but such is the way of the world. (However, does going to the grocery store and buying two graham cracker crusts, whipped topping, and chocolate pudding mixes count?)

I am reminded when I think of pie of my dear friend "Peaches LaRue" and her amazing pie finesse. Not only does she have the required facile nature for making pie dough, but she can craft the perfect filling. As she's in the Witness Protection Program after a major Duncan Hines debacle, any further information would cause her distress. Although I will say that not only can she make a fine pie, one of the very best you've ever eaten in both crust and filling--and I have to say "one of the best" because there are other fine pie makers reading this blog, too, right Linda?--but she can also make a fine Cupcake. (In fact, she is one.) And, without giving too much away, her two pantries, perhaps my favorite in the book, were in The Pantry--Its History and Modern Uses.

Two summers ago (sigh, as New Hampshire summers are glorious and have always been a part of my lifetime nostalgia for the place--when I was in Akron all winter as a child and now based in Kentucky), Peaches hosted a "pie day" at my home in Hancock. Edie and I did well as her pupils and Linda even came along with a prize apron. It was a memorable event and her pie crust recipe and techniques are included on my blog from that day, A Perfect Pie Day.

Peaches' pies are always the hit of her July 4th gatherings, as seen here at last year's fete. Let's just say that I tried each one at least once. And yes, she makes a dazzling peach pie, and rhubarb, and strawberry rhubarb, and chocolate cream, and pumpkin, and apple and, well, you get the idea. No artificial ingredients here. Her pies are the real deal. Many people have been pestering her to start a diner for years, if only so we can go in and say, "This must be where pie goes when it dies." [Agent Cooper, Twin Peaks (1990-92), created by David Lynch and Mark Frost]



I dream that all kitchens will one day come with a revolving, refrigerated pie dispenser, don't you? This oak-finished beauty can be yours for about $18,000 from McCall.

Speaking of pantries, and pies, I've had a lot of fun with Obamicon.me this week. Try it. Amaze your friends, dazzle your family, celebrate a new epoch with this "everyone's an artist" take on Shepard Fairey's iconic election posters of our new president. And gosh darn it, make or have some pie while you're at it!