The Pie Bitch

Along with my new effort to blog more, I am rededicating myself to pie making. It is the autumn, after all, and we all need to start putting on our winter fat by eating more and metabolizing less. Pie is one of the most ideal breakfast foods I can think of, with enough fruit to be nutritious and enough fat to keep you going until lunch. I have a couple morning customers who are privy to this, but I'd like to see more.

Some of you may already know that about 2 years ago, I was fully intending to open up a 24 hour pie shop. I even looked into acquiring the name "Quality Pie," after the venerable Portland institution (it was available, but I wasn't so sure about the scrupulousness of resurrecting a business which actually closed the week before I moved here.) Such dreams. I dove into the wholesale market, and sold my pies to my other favorite coffee shops around town. The idea was, build up a repertoire and a reputation before building the bakery, that way when I opened, I would have my recipes down, and my business model firmly rooted. I never could decide on a name. There are so many stupid riffs on pie that it became difficult to settle on something for very long. In my head and in my computer files, it was called "Pie Bitch." Alas, before I could find that elusive name, the dream had somehow vanished. I discovered that great pie with the finest ingredients is labor intensive and expensive, keeping the profit margins low and the burnout (and carpal-tunnel) factors high. And when it came down to it, I just didn't want to dedicate the next giant chunk of my life to pie. Does that make me a pie bitch?

So, I stopped selling my pies wholesale and now only make them for Half & Half. I make them in a commercial kitchen, where I also bake our cookies and granola. Since I stopped baking wholesale, I have been experimenting more with custard pies, including coconut custard and buttermilk. Buttermilk pie, I have learned, is a Texas "thing," and it's the most tangy and delicate flavors you will ever know. I recommend everyone, who is not vegan, try a slice. That being said, I am not featuring it at the moment. What a pie bitch. You have your choice of Maironberry, Apple Pear, or Chocolate Cream, if you go down there right now. No telling what there will be tomorrow. Oh, and the picture is old, so slices are actually $3. And we are often out of ice cream. Pie Bitch!