Sweety Pies brings you 70 scrumptious pie recipes and the stories of the amazing women behind them. Along with their signature pies and baking secrets, these ladies dish out a large dose of life experience. So touching is the connection between pie and baker that you'll feel like Miss Viola Tresvant is right alongside you sprinkling Crumb Topping on your juicy Blueberry Pie or that Sister Baby is giving you her nod of approval for doing her Buttermilk Pie proud!

A lovely gift for yourself and daughter, mother, sister, friend...all the special women in your world

• 70 scrumptious pie recipes, each a specialty of a very special lady
• 70 richly rewarding stories, some outrageously funny, some unforgettably moving
• Dozens of practical tips for making perfect pie EASY as pie, even for beginning bakers
• Full-color photos of the pies and nostalgic photos of the pie ladies
• A book that will warm your heart as you warm your kitchen with mouthwatering aromas

About the author
Patty Pinner's first acclaimed book was Sweets: A Collection of Soul Food Desserts and Memories. An employee of the U.S. Postal Service, this Saginaw, Michigan resident also works at her family's restaurant in her "spare" time. In Sweety Pies, Patty invites you to sit down at her child-hood kitchen table for a piece of Mama's Deep-Dish Strawberry Rhubarb.

Introduction vi
A Good Pie Crust 4
Berry Pies 14
Cereal Pies 40
Cream & Custard Pies 62
Fruit Pies 86
Nut & Sweet Vegetable Pies 114
Meringue Pies 142

I made my first pie when I was three years old. To me, the pie was a beautiful little confection that symbolized all good things, because, even then, I was careful to heed the ancient pie-making admonition that the women in my family held onto: only the finest ingredients will do. My pie was made from the freshest mud and tap water available. And I garnished it with rose petals I had collected from the rosebushes my mother meticulously cultivated. My pie symbolized what all good pies do: love and caring.

In fact, the American dessert pie is the ultimate expression of what comfort food, old-fashioned family values, and wholesome living represent. A homemade fruit pie cooling on a window sill is still the American icon of domestic solace and bliss.

When I was growing up in Saginaw, Michigan, a small, Mayberry-like town 90 miles north of Detroit, no matter how good a woman cooked, the true measure of her cooking prowess was determined by the quality of the pies she passed at family dinners and social gatherings. The crusts had to be flaky and browned just right. The fillings had to be rich, moist, and hold the perfect measure of sweetness.

I am a descendant of that generation where a woman's appearance, manner, and domestic prowess were synonymous with her feminine identity. Back then, feminine seduction was an art that women applied to all the levels of their being, even housekeeping. I can still remember how my mother would light a stick of incense and fluff the living room pillows just before my father came home from work, and how she'd offer him a sample of his dinner -- straight from her hands to his waiting mouth. "Does it need anything?" she'd ask, knowing full well that Daddy didn't know a thing about spices.

In our community, a woman who kept a spotless house was given the coveted title: Quite a Homemaker. But a woman whose pies were as beautifully crafted as they were delicious, well, that woman, even though she may have fallen short on a variety of other social graces, was considered a bona fide domestic goddess.

Without question, pies are my favorite dessert. Nothing satisfies my desire for something sweet better than pie. Presented with a choice of fruit or custard, I?d have trouble saying for certain which filling I like best. As long as the crust is tender and flaky, and there's plenty of it, I don't think there's a pie I couldn?t learn to love.

In the same way that I enjoy collecting recipes, I take real pleasure in gathering the stories of the women the recipes belong to. I am a firm believer that what a woman cooks is a window into her womanly personality -- what she thinks, how she behaves, how she feels about herself and the people she cooks for. In that regard, I believe that every woman has her special recipes and that those recipes are attached to stories that reveal the essence of the woman. You can learn a lot about yourself by studying the essences of other women. Therefore, I offer this volume of recipes and womanish observations in the hope that, after reading them, you will be left with more than just a wonderful collection of pies, but also, every time you light your oven, a heightened sense of the power you have when you are a cooking woman.

Customer Reviews from Amazon

I bought this cookbook during the summer and have since made several of the pies in this book. Prior to buying this book I had never made a pie, but I now create my own pies. The recipes in the book are highly accessible and easy to follow. I have made several of the pies in here for my family and friends, and they have loved all of them. I absolutely love the pie crust recipe, even after trying others, it is still my favorite. My favorites so far have been the strawberry rhubarb pie, and May Ham's peach pie, which I served with fresh blueberry ice cream at 4th of July (none of it made it home from the party). I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning to make pies.

I love the author's voice in this, and how she incorporates family and friends, old grannies and aunties. The recipes look fab, but more importantly , she included directions on how to do some particular pie stuff. We all learn to crimp an edge - but she includes diagrams on everything from ordinary crimped to 'rope' edging, twisted, etc. And even better - a couple diff ways to make the pastry deco for the topping.

... it's also funny, pithy, full of story. I wasn't so worried about the pie recipes when I bought it. I got shelves of pie books, but there are actually a lot of unusual pies, a blend of creativity, good taste and necessity("womanly setbacks"), like the corn flake pie or well known among pie achivists chess pie (some say it was 'jes pie). The pictures are pure heaven and the recipes are spot on. Buy it for the charm and the insights and stories you won't get anywhere else. I'm a fan.

Think of something sweet, succulent and mouthwatering. Now that I have your attention, I'll tell you what I'm talking about. SWEETY PIES is a beautifully written culinary memoir celebrating memories of the love and sweetness between family and friends sharing recipes, cooking and eating together. Pinner reveals fifty of the most alluring recipes for pies you will ever stir in a bowl. She has written this book with wit and sass and, with personal stories to enhance the feelings behind the recipes. The kitchen has always been the unofficial meeting place because of the soothing warmth and teasing aromas that make us comfortable, and Pinner captures the magic of women sharing soulfulness and love through their kitchens.

She starts with the recipe for a good pie crust, and then, along with traditional recipes, she shares pie recipes that are strangely interesting: Cottage Cheese, Navy Bean Custard, Peanut Butter Cream and Grape Juice Meringue.

SWEETY PIE is more than a cookbook; it is a baking portrait of the women who make life sweeter with pies. It is quite an uncommon collection, but also a blessing and a delight, especially since Pinner emphasizes the time spent in the kitchen with family and friends matters more than the delicious concoctions. The holiday season is an excellent time to pick up a copy and experience something festive and deliciously different.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

I just purchased this book. One of the things that attracted me to it was the combination of anecdotes & pie recipes. I was hoping for something along the lines of Pat Willard's wonderful book Pie Every Day, but found it very disappointing. The anecdotes - mostly gossip & innuendo - began to pall before the end of the second chapter, and the constant repetition of the word "womanly" quickly became downright annoying. I haven't tried the recipes yet, though, so there's a chance they may help to redeem this book.

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