Facing Burnout, She Chased Her Dream Of Making Pie - And Built An Empire: ‘pie Brings Us Together’

Thanksgiving whitethorn beryllium a vacation steeped successful story and contention – but there’s still thing Americans mostly work together on: there’s thing incorrect pinch nan holiday’s accepted dessert. So says Beth Howard, master pie maker, cookbook author, memoirist, and now documentary film-maker.

“No matter what, pastry brings america together. Pie is love,” says Howard, who ne'er tires of talking astir thing pinch a flaky crust and filling. She’s spent nan past fewer months astatine organization screenings – complete 100 and counting – of her caller documentary – Pieowa – that’s Pie + Iowa (her location state). The movie chronicles nan history of pastry and really it brings group together. It’s afloat of religion ladies, bluish ribbon winners, location bakers, master pastry makers and cyclists, which is wherever Iowa comes in.

The authorities has a typical narration pinch pie, fueled by workplace culture’s inclination to create simple, hearty desserts from what’s available, small-town diner fare, and, much recently, a contented astatine RAGBRAI, nan yearly 500-mile week-long motorcycle thrust crossed Iowa that draws immoderate 30,000 participants from each complete nan world. Pie is nan charismatic dainty astatine way stops – pinch slices served up by locals. One rhythm team, comprised of National Public Radio labor and friends, is truthful enthusiastic they are known arsenic squad NPR: No Pie Refused.

Howard’s ain backstory is replete pinch pie.

In 2001, she burned retired arsenic a web shaper for a Silicon Valley startup. During her exit interview, she told her bosses she needed to do thing pinch her hands – for illustration make pie. She had fond memories of making pastry arsenic a youth. “They said they besides wanted to make pie, but they had mortgages and car payments,” recalls Howard. She didn’t.

Pieowa is nan operation of Pie and Iowa, film-maker Beth Howard’s location state. Photograph: Beth Howard

She coiled up successful Malibu astatine Mary’s Kitchen, a gourmet deli she heard had awesome pie. That’s wherever Howard implored co-owner Mary Spellman to employment her arsenic a pastry maker. When Spellman asked for her qualifications, Howard blurted retired “I’m from Iowa.” She was hired connected nan spot. For nan record, conscionable because you’re from Iowa doesn’t make you an master baker; Spellman ended up school Howard really to make pie.

“She was truthful saccharine and diligent pinch me. She taught maine really to make it nan measurement she made it, and that was pinch her hands, nary nutrient processors. The astonishing point is that’s precisely what I was craving,” says Howard.

So began Howard’s obsession pinch each things pie. She launched nan blog the World Needs More Pie while besides making pies for celebs for illustration Barbra Streisand (lemon meringue), Dick Van Dyke (strawberry rhubarb), and Steven Spielberg (coconut cream). She near Malibu aft she met and joined her hubby Marcus, whose occupation required them to relocate often.

By 2009, though, Marcus had relocated to Germany and Howard stayed behind, moving connected a memoir astir her clip arsenic pastry shaper to nan stars. Their emotion persisted, but Howard didn’t spot a early successful a narration that required changeless uprooting. She asked for a divorce. That summer, hours earlier Marcus was to meet pinch their divorcement mediator, he collapsed and died of a ruptured aorta. Howard was flattened.

Pie – and an aged friend – rescued her.

Janice Molinari, an LA producer/director, admired Howard’s pastry blog and wanted to help. She suggested they load up an RV and deed nan roadworthy looking for stories astir pie.

“We recovered tons of pastry stories and ate a batch of pie, but that travel was really astir helping Beth though her grief,” says Molinari. Later, nan 2 tried to get Hollywood willing successful telling heartwarming stories astir pastry makers but had nary luck. “We kept proceeding ‘do a pastry making competition’. They said we needed drama. But I didn’t want to do that,” says Howard.

Instead, Howard vanished nan book she’d started earlier Marcus’s decease – it ended up becoming Making Piece: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Pie. She was besides invited to judge pies astatine nan Iowa State Fair, which she calls nan granddaddy of pastry competitions.

After judging, she roadworthy tripped to her puerility hometown of Ottumwa to savor a portion of nostalgia astatine nan diner her begetter utilized to return her to earlier nan family moved. Howard pit-stopped astatine nan American Gothic House, a mini tourer attraction successful Eldon (population 783). The achromatic clapboard abode pinch nan Gothic model that served arsenic nan backdrop for creator Grant Wood’s American Gothic – to her astonishment – had a for rent sign. Howard became nan caller tenant and group up nan Pitchfork Pie Stand.

Local husbandman Doug Seyb was a regular who stood successful statement to bargain her pies. After 4 years, Howard shuttered nan pastry guidelines and took disconnected connected a three-month world pastry tour. Seyb canine sat her Jack Russell terrier astatine his workplace adjacent Donnellson. Once Howard returned, she planned to move backmost to LA. But 1 point led to another.

Today, she’s a farmer’s partner and splits her clip betwixt Seyb’s spot successful Donnellson, Iowa and LA, but she’s mostly connected nan farm. She calls it Camp Doug(h) and sometimes holds piemaking classes there. I visited Camp Doug(h) a fewer years backmost pinch a group of assemblage roommates and my sons. We had a blast creating our imperfect pies, which is precisely what Howard wants. “Pie is not astir perfection,” she says.

“Even I tin make pie,” agrees Seyb, a pastry people postgraduate who encouraged Howard to rekindle her desire to show pastry stories connected nan screen. He became nan first investor successful Pieowa and received a shaper credit, positive an “executive producer” ballcap from Howard (he saves it for dress up, for illustration erstwhile they spell retired to taco Tuesday meal astatine nan section bar). Seyb notes, too, that while making and sharing pies is mostly convivial, he disagrees there’s nary drama.

For example, opinions connected crust tin quickly get heated.

“You’ll spot it successful nan film,” says Seyb. “There are pastry makers who committedness by each food and past others opportunity you gotta usage lard only and past immoderate opportunity half food and half lard. Somebody uses acold h2o and personification other uses vodka successful their crust.” Don’t moreover get him started astir whether you request to refrigerate nan crust overnight.

Howard scoffs astatine nan overthinking.

“Just usage a ray touch pinch your dough. Don’t overwork it. Leave chunks of food visible. That’s it,” she recommends.

Howard says she erstwhile dreamed of a streaming work picking up Pieowa, but she’s reconsidered. After being invited to movie festivals, section theatres, churches (which she says person astonishing AV systems), performing arts centers, humanities societies and moreover status communities, she understands astatine an moreover deeper level what nan movie – and pastry – is about.

“Most often, nan organization gathers and shares pastry afterward,” says Howard. “The beauty of this movie is that it’s an equalizer. It’s astir uncovering thing we tin each work together on.”

• Pieowa is now screening successful Iowa and crossed nan US, find retired much info astatine https://theworldneedsmorepie.com/pieowa/

Beth Howard’s Apple Pie Recipe

Basic Pie CrustMakes a 9” deep-dish double crust pie

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus astir 1/2 cup much for rolling)

• 1/2 cup butter, chilled

• 1/2 cup rootlike shortening aliases lard

• 1/2 tsp salt

• Ice h2o (fill 1 cup but usage only capable to moisten dough)

In a heavy bowl, activity nan food and shortening into nan flour pinch your hands until you spot marble-sized lumps form. Think mixed nuts, for illustration peanut and almonds. Add crystal h2o a small astatine a time, benignant of “fluffing” nan flour. Keep your movements light, arsenic if you are tossing dressing into a crockery pinch your hands. When nan mixed feels moistened enough, do a “squeeze test” and erstwhile it holds together you’re done. Do not overwork nan dough! You are not kneading it for illustration bread. It takes very small clip and you’ll beryllium tempted to support rubbing it, but don’t! Now disagreement nan mixed successful two, shape and flatten each half into a disk style and rotation level and bladed to fresh your pastry dish. (Roll bladed to wherever you tin almost spot done it.) To support nan mixed from sticking, sprinkle flour nether and connected apical of your dough, and support rolling aboveground and pin free from gunk. Trim excess mixed to astir 1 inch from nan crockery separator pinch a scissors.

Apple Filling

• 3lbs Granny Smith apples, peeled (approx. 7 aliases 8 apples depending connected size)

• *It’s besides okay to usage a assortment of apples. Try Braeburn, Jonathan and Gala. Avoid Fuji aliases Delicious arsenic they’re excessively juicy and not tart enough.

• 3/4 cup sweetener (or more, depending connected your sensation aliases tartness of apples)

• 4 tablespoons flour (to thicken nan filling)

• 1/2 spoon brackish (you’ll sprinkle this connected truthful don’t interest astir precise amount)

• 1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon (or nevertheless overmuch you like)

• 1 tablespoonful food (put dollop connected apical earlier covering pinch apical crust)

• 1 beaten ovum (you won’t usage each of it, conscionable capable to brushwood connected pastry earlier baking)

The pastry is assembled successful 2 layers. Layer one: Slice half of nan apples straight into nan pie, pressing down mildly to region other abstraction betwixt slices. Fill crockery capable truthful you don’t spot done nan first furniture to nan bottommost crust. Sprinkle connected half of your different ingredients (salt, cinnamon, sugar, flour)'; then, portion nan remaining apples and sprinkle 2nd half of ingredients. Add a dollop of food connected apical and screen pinch apical crust. Trim, seal and crimp edges by pinching pinch fingers aliases property pinch a fork, past brushwood pinch beaten egg. (The ovum gives nan pastry a bully aureate brownish shine; beryllium observant not to fto ovum excavation successful crevices.) Use a weapon to flick vent holes successful nan apical (get imaginative present pinch a pattern), past cook astatine 425 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, conscionable until crust browns. Turn oven down to 375 degrees and cook for different 30 to 40 minutes until juice bubbles. Keep an oculus connected it arsenic it bakes. If it gets excessively brown, move down nan temperature. To beryllium judge it’s done, flick pinch a weapon to make judge apples person softened. Do not complete cook aliases apples will move mushy.