ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you, thank you, thank you—

To my foremothers, whose human spirit was ignited by character, faith, gratitude, joy, work ethic, passion, kindness, and love, and for sharing these virtues through their pies!

To my sweet parents—for my mommy’s pie legacy and my daddy’s love of pie!

Mom Hundt—showing the great love that goes into baking every day.

To my beloved twin sister, Laura, my very first baking partner, who showed me the fun of baking since our Easy-Bake Oven days! And to my brothers, Mark, Paul, and David, for loving everything we made!

Melinda Hundt, my first believer, and professional pie baker partner!

To all of my co-workers at Sweetie-licious, who also happen to be my best friends. They exude virtues of hard work, passion, and love with each customer and in everything they bake everyday at the shop. Especially, my inspiring fellow bakers who helped develop these recipes and made them beautiful for this cookbook—Stephanie Haynie, Sharie Curtin, Patty Blackmond, Eileen Hundt, and Gretchen Karslake. And to Cheryl Kellogg for her loyal dedication of following me around the shop for years, writing down the recipes as I created them.

To my dear friend, Jeannie Cleary, for all of her tireless work to make this cookbook a reality.

To Kim Schram, for being my BFF/Business Partner and getting this dream cookbook off the ground!

Gail Junion Metz, Jenn Wagoner, and Sue Rundborg for their creative talents to make this cookbook as beautiful as it is.

To all the gracious recipe testers that helped perfect these delicious pies for everyone!

To my photographer, Clarissa, and the team at the Kalman & Pabst Photo Group, and food stylist, Laura Goble, for creating breath-taking pictures of not only pies, but a lifestyle!

To Elizabeth Evans, from Jean Naggar Agency, and Mary Norris and the team from skirt!/Globe Pequot, for believing in me and the love of pie. I am tickled pink that it is as beautiful as we envisioned it! I am forever grateful.

To my kind and loyal customers, my Facebook fans, Twitter followers, webpage/blog followers, and all of my sweet friends and family that have supported me and Sweetie-licious pies since I starting selling them from my back porch years ago!

To my dear husband, John, and our lovely daughters, Ellie and Betsie—I cannot thank you enough for all of your love and support to make this “pie dream” come true. You are my favorite people on this earth, and I am blessed to share my life and pies with each of you! My love always.

To God, who believed in me, and that my love for people and pie baking could help change the world one pie at a time!