2019 marks Fallowfield United Methodist Church’s 64th year at the Crawford County Fair. You know what that means: pie. We made and froze Dutch apple, apple, rhubarb, strawberry-rhubarb, peach, and summer harvest pies over the past few weeks. We’ll bake 30 of these at the beginning of each bake this week. It surely makes the bakes go faster. We’ll make fresh coconut cream, lemon meringue, raisin, cherry, blackberry, elderberry, and blueberry pies this week. As always, we’ll donate all net profits to charities and missionaries around the world. God blesses this project each year, and we pray we will be able to continue making homemade pies in years to come.
A few brave folks ventured into the woods last week to pick elderberries. A patient crew shelled the elderberries for hours afterward. This is such painstaking work. Elderberries are increasingly scarce. If you want elderberry pie, I recommend getting to the fair Monday or Tuesday. We may run out.
My first memories of pie bakes pre-date the 1985 F-4 tornado that obliterated Atlantic. We used to bake pies at the Odd Fellows Hall before the tornado demolished it. We used a gas stove back then. Mom likes to tell the story of lighting a pilot light which blew her across the room. We used lard back then, too. They’d use huge tubs of frozen lard for the crust, and if someone forgot to leave the tub out overnight to thaw, they’d have to stir and stir it to get it to melt. Yuck. We make crust with Crisco now.
I remember staring in wonder at rows upon rows of pies at the old hall, trying to figure out a way to sneak a piece without being discovered. But I knew I’d never get away with it, so I just begged Mom. I’d have to wait until a burnt Dutch apple (my favorite) or blackberry (her favorite) pie emerged. Then I got to have a piece.
Around 2000 we started letting all the volunteer bakers eat a piece of pie during their shift. Before then we didn’t get any pie unless we bought one. Pie bakes are way more satisfying these days. But, want to hear a bummer? I tested positive for Celiac disease. So I can’t eat wheat, which means no pie for me. I’ve felt great on a gluten-free diet for the past two months. It’s not worth it savor a piece of Dutch apple or blueberry pie (my top two) only to end up with agonizing stomach pain within a few minutes. Don’t feel too sorry for me. I’ll have ice cream.
We’ve made a few other changes over the years, too. We once made chocolate meringue, pineapple cream, blueberry crumb, peanut butter, shoo-fly, and pumpkin pies. We eliminated these over the years for various reasons, often because they didn’t sell well. The pie committee voted blueberry crumb out because the juice spider webbed across the topping, and for some reason, the topping always baked into cement-like consistency. I think it was the juicy berries. We got rid of peanut butter because of safety regulations. We didn’t want anyone with a peanut allergy to get sick.
We rely on friends and neighbors to help us pull off this project each year. Our congregation of roughly 70 could never do this alone. So if you’re volunteering this week to work at the church or the pie booth, thank you and God bless you.
If getting to the fairgrounds is a struggle, you can buy pies at the church. They’ll be bakers there from around 5 a.m. until at least 5 p.m. during fair week, except for Saturdays August 17 and 24. We’ll only have 6 a.m. bakes those days. Just a heads-up.
Have a wonderful week. Blessings!