Pie. A three-letter word that has power to draw folks together. It has the power to pull construction workers from their tasks at 3 in the afternoon. It has power to sit in a glass dessert case and receive more attention than a violet Faberge egg crusted with green peridots, and it also tastes better too! It stirs memories of Martha’s Kitchen at the Hawk Museum near Wolford, it makes us want to recreate Rose’s icon Coffee Shop in Rugby, and it makes us want to travel to Balfour to enjoy Pete’s Cafe. It makes us want to drive to Ray during Grain Palace Day and have a slice prepared by the Dem-NPLs.

On a more personal note, it reminds me of my mother and her perfect apple pie that she could toss together without a recipe. It also brings to memory her expression at this time — always a smile. Pie means your grandma, aunt, uncle, picnics and checkered tablecloths. It can also mean a double scoop of ice cream, lattice top, whip cream and maybe even a slice of cheese. Pie is power.

Homemade pie does take time and talent. The eagerness to have a pie causes many of us to pursue the many avenues of making pie without any experience, and this is a good thing. After all, we have to start somewhere. Just the other day Ann Latimer was telling me that her first attempt at pie crust happened as a new bride when Lowell requested a cherry pie. She stepped up to the challenge and without a rolling pin and only a quart jar rolled out a crust and made a cherry pie! What a fine story about the power of pie. It should be noted that Ann mentioned the crust had a variety of thickness levels, however, it tasted good.

July brings the State Fair to Minot and that means that there are many people rolling pie crust each day at First Lutheran Church to create delicious pies for the church’s fair stand. The folks at First Lutheran take their pie crust making and pie creations serious. Pie dough is made from scratch and all fruits are peeled daily and many loving hands make this labor of love an enjoyable time. One of the best images is seeing hands that are young, spotted, and wrinkled crimping pie dough, after all the pie should look nice.

For several years, I have helped with pie crust rolling and it has taught me a few life lessons. For example, one of the secrets of these happy working mornings is to live one day at a time. We concentrate on the day and pies that will be need. This is not to say that plans are not made for the next, but we do not worry needlessly about the details. As Holy Rollers, we vow to meet tomorrow’s concerns when they come. Meanwhile, enjoy today. Great life lesson.

It is privilege to awaken in the morning and let the rising sun catch you in the eye as you make your way to the church and say with rolling pin and apron in hand, “This is the day which the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” We all know that life has its disappointments. But we must take them as they come and realize in time many of them will be rolled out with ease if we only have faith.

There is a piece of teamwork to make this all happen as I stated earlier. At the head to this effort for the past couple of years is Laurie Jenson. She starts calling members and others in early summer to set schedules for pie crust rolling, pie filling, baking, and also for volunteers to transfer pie from the church to the fair stand. While visiting with Laurie, she mentioned that for many years she enjoyed working at the fair stand. In fact, her exact words were “I loved being at the fair stand.” When the opportunity came along to supervise the pie making process, she stepped up to the pie plate. She enjoys giving her time and talent to this long-standing tradition at First Lutheran.

She is the first to say that alone this simply could not be done. It is, however, a fellowship of workers who work together to continue this tradition that many fair goers look forward to. Cheerfulness is big part of Laurie’s attitude in the kitchen. This foundation encourages everyone to do their best and to keep things in order while making peach, apple, strawberry, raisin sour cream, lemon meringue and rhubarb pies.

For many years, Cindy Wilhelm did a wonderful job of organizing pie time at the fair. When she moved, Laurie and Kathy Mackey joined forces. Kathy learned the art of dough making from Lucy Fiest who for many years made the flakey and delicious pie crust. Be assured that the quality continues. The traditional large pottery bowl is the vessel for mixing lard, flour, vinegar, salt and egg which becomes the tasty foundation for all pies.

Over the years many people have helped and taken on leadership rolls and Laurie mention that their deeds do not go unnoticed. In fact, many times while working some will say “remember how she use to roll perfect circles or he was always so good at preparing peaches.”

At First Lutheran pie dough is made only with lard. I will agree it is wonderful. This following recipe is my standard recipe that had been changed over the years to include lard plus butter or shortening if desired. This is still my favorite.

“Crust” me — at the First Lutheran Fair Stand we got our “pie” on you!

Basic Pie Crust

For one two-crust 8 or 9-inch pie:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup lard or vegetable shortening, chilled but not hard or ½ cup lard, vegetable shortening and 4 tablespoons of butter

½ cup ice water

Optional

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons vinegar

1 egg

If the blend of butter and lard or shortening is to be used, allow both to come to room temperature before mixing them together. This mixture must be chilled before it is cut into the flour.

If you select to use the egg and vinegar, reduce the water by half.

In a medium bowl measure flour and salt. With a knife, cut the fat into several small pieces and drop into the flour. Toss and work the fat and flour together with a pastry blender. Two knives will also work. If you choose to use your finger work quickly, until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with bumps from the fat ranging from the size of tiny grains of rice to small peas.

Add sugar, vinegar and egg, if desired. Pour each ingredient into the flour mixture and stir to blend before adding the next.

Sprinkle with water, a tablespoon at a time, and stir with a fork to blend. Gently toss the loose particles around the bowl to absorb the moisture. Add water as need to bring it all together in a moist mass that hold together.

I find it best to place dough in the refrigerator to mature for a couple of hours. Take out ½ hour before rolling for ease is rolling.

Once dough has been rolled out you can return it to the refrigerator for an additional 20 minutes. The dough will bake more even and hold its shape. Bake at 425 degrees until tan in color usually between 20-25 minutes. This is for a shell that is to be filled.