I love homemade cherry pie. I remember when I was growing up, there was nothing like the smell of Amelia’s homemade cherry pie with the criss-cross lattice, cooling in the kitchen window.
When Liz and I were up at Lake Superior in Duluth a few months ago, we were longing for the extra energy to take a jaunt a little further north to Two Harbors, Minnesota to stay at the Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast and visit Betty’s Pies. Betty Lessard started selling her World Famous pies in 1956. The place has been Minnesota’s best kept secret ever since.
I was writing about Ruby’s Cafe in Goodbye To Old Missoula when I found Ruby’s listed in the Pie of the Month Club. You’ve got to check out this site. On their interactive pie map Pies Across America you can click on your state and find reviews of the best pies imaginable in your locale. One click on Montana takes you to Ruby’s Cafe.
Imagine my disappointment when I clicked on Minnesota and WHAT!? – completely blank. So I’m sending a yell out to Pie of the Month Club – head up to Betty’s Pies as soon as you can! And add her to your list. While you’re at it, have a fat slice of warm cherry pie alamode for me!
What’s your favorite slice of homemade pie. Pie anyone?
Thursday, May 17th, 2007
I’m with you – cherry pie is at the top. With those sour cherries that you don’t really want to eat off the tree anyway (at least I don’t). Any kind of homemade pie is wonderful.
Among desserts, though, I’m one of those who likes old-fashioned one: bread pudding, rice pudding, custards. A lot of folks don’t like them, but I do.
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My favorite pies:
1) cherry
2) lemon meringue
3) coconut cream
4) apple
5) French silk (can that be considered a pie?)
Custards have grown on me. I love flan but I think it’s an acquired taste. I’m not big on bread and rice puddings. Something about the texture. Unless they are really, really fresh.
We planted a cherry tree in the front yard last week. We are looking forward to the day we can make pie from the cherries. It’s so hard to find a good cherry pie when you eat out these days. That’s why I was so thrilled to find a pie site. These places are still around.
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In no order…
pumkin
lemon meringue
chocolate cream
apple
peach (cobbler)
cherry is down the list
ybonesy,
You ever been to Pie Town, NM (on US hwy 60)? I’ve been through there but have never stopped for pie.
MM
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MM: If you click on the Pies Across America link in the post, and click on New Mexico on the map, I think Pie Town is one of the places listed. I wondered what that place was like. There’s another one listed, too, right near there.
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Mmmmm, pumpkin. That’s high on my list. I like coconut creme, but sometimes I don’t like the coconut. I have to be in a coconut mood. What’s French Silk?
I’ve never been to Pie Town. Do they really have pies? I thought maybe it was the Spanish word for foot, which is pie (pronounced pe-ey). Foot Town.
We have this silly thing in my family where we all use a funny little voice that’s a cross between Jim Neighbor as Gomer Pyle and Booboo (sp?), Yogi’s sidekick. We say “Make me a pie.” My dad says it, all my sisters say it, my brother and I, everyone but my mom. We don’t even know any more where it came from. Some say it’s something my dad started (he loves homemade pie). But now it’s almost become a weird voice contest.
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I noticed I spelled “pumkin” the way I say it. Funny.
I think Pie Town got its name as a truckers stop when US 60 was one of major E-W routes. The restaurant made good pies and the truckers called it “pie town”. The name stuck.
I just discovered the Pie Town has a website.
http://www.pietown.com/
MM
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Like the word “gramma” – gramma’s pumkin pie.
Thanks for the background and link on Pie Town.
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I woke up this morning thinking, “Darn! I’ve been away too long! I forgot pecan pie on my list!”
Pecan pie would be at the top of my list.
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MM: Oh, I forgot that one, too. Is it too late to add pecan pie? In the South, we say PeeCAN pie. You emphasize the first and second syllables and it sounds just like pee and can. 8)
We used to pick peeCANs every year out in front of my granddaddy’s house. There were monster peeCAN trees growing there. I wonder if they were even 100 years old. There is nothing like fresh peeCANs. There was usually a bowl of them sitting around the house.
I’ve never been all that big on pumpkin. It’s just okay.
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Your comment made me laugh, mm. How funny that you combined pie and being away from home in your first awake thoughts. You *have* been away too long!
P.S., I would add pecan to my list. I used to not like the gooey stuff that held the pecans together, and I can still get a little yucked out if it’s not just the right consistency. But I have grown fond of pecan pies over time. My oldest sister makes a killer pecan pie. As with all pies, it’s all in the crust.
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You’re not kidding. It IS all in the crust. I think it’s the butter. Though I’ve never been much of a baker.
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ybonesy,
I noticed you haven’t gotten the definition of French Silk yet. It is in the chocolate family, and extremely rich. It is tall in height, and is this great combination of being both silky-whipped and very dense. We have a chain of restaurants called Baker’s Square (known for their pies), and they make a mean French Silk.
I like French Silk, but always feel like a blob after eating the smallest sliver. It has no redeeming qualities to justify it. As in, “Oh, that was my fruit (apple, blueberry cherry) for the day.” Or, “That had vegetables (pumpkin, sweet potato) in it.”
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Sinclair: Thanks for (pie) filling ybonesy in on French Silk. And mentioning Baker’s Square, where I often get my French Silk. You are correct – no redeeming qualities. It’s all fluff and chocolate.
Has anyone ever made a French Silk by hand? Or is it something that people only get when they eat out?
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Pies, pies, pies. Did you know you can order Betty’s Pies online now? But just a note to say Betty’s Pies was mentioned in Andrew Zimmern’s March 25th episode of Bizarre Foods of Minnesota (here’s a link to his blog (LINK). It was fun to watch all the local food. They covered Scandinavian foods and Lutefisk, white sucker head fish, the Minnesota State Fair, and wild boar testicle, brain, and tongue at Lenny Russo’s Heartland restaurant.
One of my favorite parts was when he went to the White Earth Re-Discovery Center and learned about wild rice harvesting. The Center is where tribal elders pass on traditional skills to the next generation that is sometimes removed from ancestral tribal life.
Wild rices harvesting the traditional way is very labor intensive and you can see why Wild Rice is so expensive (and worth every penny). BTW, wild rice is actually not rice, but a water-grass seed that is highly prized around the world for its singular nutty flavor.
On the North Shore they also stopped at Russ Kendall’s Smoked Fish, Betty’s Pies for a special made Sauerkraut Creme Pie and then Grand Marais’ Three Sisters for a goober burger consisting of hamburger, peanut butter and mayonnaise.
They also went to the Rail Station for a meat raffle. As far as I can tell, the meat raffle may have started up there. I know there’s a club in Pennsylvania not far from our home that still does meat raffles sometimes.
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[…] Note: I adapted the pie filling recipe from Paula Deen’s Food Network site. On the pie crusts, you can also use store-bought shells that are not Gluten-free (and, hence, not expensive). These days the store-bought pie crusts are so good that it’s almost not worth making your crust. (Does that sound sacrelige to the purists out there? If so, Paula Deen’s site includes a link to a homemade pie crust.) Enjoy your fall apples! -Related to posts Apples For Sale and Pies Across America. […]
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The original founder of Betty’s Pies (Betty Lessard) died last Thursday, March 19th, 2015 at the age of 90. Until recently she lived in a home within sight of the restaurant she founded. Here is a link to her obituary in the Duluth News Tribune: Obituary of Betty Lessard, founder of Betty’s Pies on the North Shore of Minnesota (LINK). Rest in peace, Betty. We won’t forget stopping there on our way up the North Shore.
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