3 days ago
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Thanksgiving may be a holiday steeped in myth and controversy – but there’s still something Americans largely agree on: there’s nothing wrong with the holiday’s traditional dessert. So says Beth Howard, expert pie maker, cookbook author, memoirist, and now documentary film-maker.
“No matter what, pie brings us together. Pie is love,” says Howard, who never tires of talking about anything with a flaky crust and filling. She’s spent the last few months at community screenings – over 100 and counting – of her new documentary – Pieowa – that’s Pie + Iowa (her home state). The film chronicles the history of pie and how it brings people together. It’s full of church ladies, blue ribbon winners, home bakers, expert pie makers and cyclists, which is where Iowa comes in.
The state has a special relationship with pie, fueled by farm culture’s tendency to create simple, hearty desserts from what’s available, small-town diner fare, and, more recently, a tradition at RAGBRAI, the annual 500-mile week-long bike ride across Iowa that draws some 30,000 participants from all over the world. Pie is the official treat at route stops – with slices served up by locals. One cycle team, comprised of National Public Radio employees and friends, is so enthusiastic they are known as team NPR: No Pie Refused.
Howard’s own backstory is replete with pie.
In 2001, she burned out as a web producer for a Silicon Valley startup. During her exit interview, she told her bosses she needed to do something with her hands – like make pie. She had fond memories of making pie as a youth. “They said they also wanted to make pie, but they had mortgages and car payments,” recalls Howard. She didn’t.
She wound up in Malibu at Mary’s Kitchen, a gourmet deli she heard had great pie. That’s where Howard implored co-owner Mary Spellman to employ her as a pie maker. When Spellman asked for her qualifications, Howard blurted out “I’m from Iowa.” She was hired on the spot. For the record, just because you’re from Iowa doesn’t make you an expert baker; Spellman ended up teaching Howard how to make pie.
“She was so sweet and patient with me. She taught me how to make it the way she made it, and that was with her hands, no food processors. The amazing thing is that’s exactly what I was craving,” says Howard.
So began Howard’s obsession with all things pie. She launched the blog the World Needs More Pie while also making pies for celebs like Barbra Streisand (lemon meringue), Dick Van Dyke (strawberry rhubarb), and Steven Spielberg (coconut cream). She left Malibu after she met and married her husband Marcus, whose job required them to relocate often.
By 2009, though, Marcus had relocated to Germany and Howard stayed behind, working on a memoir about her time as pie maker to the stars. Their love persisted, but Howard didn’t see a future in a relationship that required constant uprooting. She asked for a divorce. That summer, hours before Marcus was to meet with their divorce mediator, he collapsed and died of a ruptured aorta. Howard was flattened.
Pie – and an old friend – rescued her.
Janice Molinari, an LA producer/director, admired Howard’s pie blog and wanted to help. She suggested they load up an RV and hit the road looking for stories about pie.
“We found lots of pie stories and ate a lot of pie, but that trip was really about helping Beth though her grief,” says Molinari. Later, the two tried to get Hollywood interested in telling heartwarming stories about pie makers but had no luck. “We kept hearing ‘do a pie making competition’. They said we needed drama. But I didn’t want to do that,” says Howard.
Instead, Howard finished the book she’d started before Marcus’s death – it ended up becoming Making Piece: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Pie. She was also invited to judge pies at the Iowa State Fair, which she calls the granddaddy of pie competitions.
After judging, she road tripped to her childhood hometown of Ottumwa to savor a slice of nostalgia at the diner her father used to take her to before the family moved. Howard pit-stopped at the American Gothic House, a small tourist attraction in Eldon (population 783). The white clapboard abode with the Gothic window that served as the backdrop for painter Grant Wood’s American Gothic – to her surprise – had a for rent sign. Howard became the new tenant and set up the Pitchfork Pie Stand.
Local farmer Doug Seyb was a regular who stood in line to buy her pies. After four years, Howard shuttered the pie stand and took off on a three-month world pie tour. Seyb dog sat her Jack Russell terrier at his farm near Donnellson. Once Howard returned, she planned to move back to LA. But one thing led to another.
Today, she’s a farmer’s partner and splits her time between Seyb’s place in Donnellson, Iowa and LA, but she’s mostly on the farm. She calls it Camp Doug(h) and sometimes holds piemaking classes there. I visited Camp Doug(h) a few years back with a group of college roommates and my sons. We had a blast creating our imperfect pies, which is exactly what Howard wants. “Pie is not about perfection,” she says.
“Even I can make pie,” agrees Seyb, a pie class graduate who encouraged Howard to rekindle her desire to tell pie stories on the screen. He became the first investor in Pieowa and received a producer credit, plus an “executive producer” ballcap from Howard (he saves it for dress up, like when they go out to taco Tuesday dinner at the local bar). Seyb notes, too, that while making and sharing pies is generally convivial, he disagrees there’s no drama.
For example, opinions on crust can quickly get heated.
“You’ll see it in the film,” says Seyb. “There are pie makers who swear by all butter and then others say you gotta use lard only and then some say half butter and half lard. Somebody uses cold water and somebody else uses vodka in their crust.” Don’t even get him started about whether you need to refrigerate the crust overnight.
Howard scoffs at the overthinking.
“Just use a light touch with your dough. Don’t overwork it. Leave chunks of butter visible. That’s it,” she recommends.
Howard says she once dreamed of a streaming service picking up Pieowa, but she’s reconsidered. After being invited to film festivals, local theatres, churches (which she says have amazing AV systems), performing arts centers, historical societies and even retirement communities, she understands at an even deeper level what the film – and pie – is about.
“Most often, the community gathers and shares pie afterward,” says Howard. “The beauty of this film is that it’s an equalizer. It’s about finding something we can all agree on.”
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Pieowa is now screening in Iowa and across the US, find out more info at https://theworldneedsmorepie.com/pieowa/
Beth Howard’s Apple Pie Recipe
Basic Pie CrustMakes a 9” deep-dish double crust pie
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2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus approximately 1/2 cup more for rolling)
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1/2 cup butter, chilled
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1/2 cup vegetable shortening or lard
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1/2 tsp salt
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Ice water (fill one cup but use only enough to moisten dough)
In a deep bowl, work the butter and shortening into the flour with your hands until you see marble-sized lumps form. Think mixed nuts, like peanut and almonds. Add ice water a little at a time, sort of “fluffing” the flour. Keep your movements light, as if you are tossing dressing into a salad with your hands. When the dough feels moistened enough, do a “squeeze test” and when it holds together you’re done. Do not overwork the dough! You are not kneading it like bread. It takes very little time and you’ll be tempted to keep touching it, but don’t! Now divide the dough in two, form and flatten each half into a disk shape and roll flat and thin to fit your pie dish. (Roll thin to where you can almost see through it.) To keep the dough from sticking, sprinkle flour under and on top of your dough, and keep rolling surface and pin free from gunk. Trim excess dough to about 1 inch from the dish edge with a scissors.
Apple Filling
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3lbs Granny Smith apples, peeled (approx. 7 or 8 apples depending on size)
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*It’s also okay to use a variety of apples. Try Braeburn, Jonathan and Gala. Avoid Fuji or Delicious as they’re too juicy and not tart enough.
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3/4 cup sugar (or more, depending on your taste or tartness of apples)
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4 tablespoons flour (to thicken the filling)
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1/2 teaspoon salt (you’ll sprinkle this on so don’t worry about precise amount)
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1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon (or however much you like)
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1 tablespoon butter (put dollop on top before covering with top crust)
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1 beaten egg (you won’t use all of it, just enough to brush on pie before baking)
The pie is assembled in two layers. Layer one: Slice half of the apples directly into the pie, pressing down gently to remove extra space between slices. Fill dish enough so you don’t see through the first layer to the bottom crust. Sprinkle on half of your other ingredients (salt, cinnamon, sugar, flour)'; then, slice the remaining apples and sprinkle second half of ingredients. Add a dollop of butter on top and cover with top crust. Trim, seal and crimp edges by pinching with fingers or press with a fork, then brush with beaten egg. (The egg gives the pie a nice golden brown shine; be careful not to let egg pool in crevices.) Use a knife to poke vent holes in the top (get creative here with a pattern), then bake at 425 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, just until crust browns. Turn oven down to 375 degrees and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes until juice bubbles. Keep an eye on it as it bakes. If it gets too brown, turn down the temperature. To be sure it’s done, poke with a knife to make sure apples have softened. Do not over bake or apples will turn mushy.
