Finding love in all things in life is, I believe, truly life’s purpose. A heart bursting with love brings happiness to all who encounter it. Love fuels us, and when we find the “loveliness” in everyone, the world is simply sweeter. Hugs, deeds, words, and kind gestures are all expressions of this most powerful virtue.

But baking a pie for someone may be the ultimate testament to love, as the love you bake in it will be crimped into every corner of the crust and suffused in every bite of filling!

Aunt Margie’s Banana Cream Pie

Eat pie, give love.

My aunt Margie was one of those special people who exuded love in everything she did. All who knew her felt her love and instinctively gave it right back. Life was simply better with Auntie Margie around. When she came to visit, our whole family would anxiously await her arrival. We could hardly wait to see her pull up in her blue Buick packed with gifts for us kids. She routinely brought us chewing gum, comic books, and her famous banana cream pie. Occasionally I would be the lucky one who got to bring the pie in from her car, which was quite a responsibility for a little miss. I remember staring at its perfection and being terrified that I would drop it, knowing that my brothers would never forgive me. Thankfully, the glorious pie always made it into the house unscathed. This is my version of her recipe.

“Love is my religion—I could die for it.”

—John Keats

Recommended: Flaky Classic Piecrust (page 1)

Filling

2½ cups milk

½ cup half-and-half

5 egg yolks

1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch, sifted

Dash of salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1½ teaspoons banana extract

1 tablespoon butter

3 bananas, yellow, not too ripe

Garnish—Optional

Sweetie-licious Whipped Cream (see recipe on page 8)

Dried bananas

Fresh raspberries

White chocolate shavings

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Mix the milk, half-and-half, egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
3. Stir constantly with a wire whisk until the mixture boils for 1 minute.
4. Remove from the heat. Add the vanilla, banana extract, and butter to the cream mixture.
5. Slice the bananas thinly and arrange the slices in the bottom of a piecrust until it’s covered.
6. Pour the cream filling over the banana layer.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
8. Garnish as you wish with Whipped Cream, dried bananas, fresh raspberries, and white chocolate. Best eaten that day.

Cream-based pies should always be refrigerated! They can last up to 3 days in the fridge, but are always best eaten in the first 2 days.

Grandma Rosella’s Vanilla Custard Pie

Eat pie, open your heart to others.

Back during the bleak Depression, my daddy’s cousin Janette came to live with his family for a few special years. Janette’s father had seven children when his wife suffered a nervous breakdown and was sent away for treatment. He worked long hours at Ford Motor Company and was unable to care for his children alone. Hence, all seven children were sent separately to live with relatives until the family could get back on its feet. As hard as this was for Janette, the great peace and love she found in my daddy’s home influenced her for the rest of her life. Janette recalls how my grandmother Rosella would rock her to sleep, make her new dresses, and bake her vanilla custard pies. These seemingly small acts of kindness were invaluable for a needy, insecure little girl. Janette’s family was reunited a few years later, but she says that her favorite childhood memories were with my grandmother, eating pies and feeling loved.

Recommended: Sweetie-licious Cream Cheese Crust, frozen (page 2)

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Line a frozen piecrust with one layer of aluminum foil and fill with one layer of uncooked pasta.
3. Bake in the oven until the bottom of the crust is partially baked, approximately 8 minutes.
4. Carefully lift the pasta-filled foil from the crust. Let the crust cool.
5. Continue with the directions for the filling below.

Filling

1¹/₃ cups milk

1½ cups half-and-half

3 egg yolks

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1½ tablespoons cornstarch

Dash of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

Freshly grated nutmeg

Garnish—Optional

Fresh berries

1. Mix the milk, half-and-half, egg yolks, eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir constantly with a wire whisk until the mixture just starts to boil. Remove from the heat; add the vanilla and almond extracts.
3. Pour the filling into the piecrust.
4. Grate nutmeg on top of the pie.
5. Bake for 45 minutes or until the center is almost set. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
6. Serve with fresh berries, if desired.

My grandma used to make this pie occasionally with raisins or dates during World War II for my father. This pie is wonderful served with fresh fruit in season.

Grandpa Ferrell’s Cherry Rhubarb Pie

Eat pie, love your partner.

My grandpa Ferrell was a coal miner in West Virginia for many years before and after the Depression. Coal miners worked long, dark hours, and often the only bright spot of their day was lunchtime. This was usually one half hour and aboveground, giving them a chance to rest their legs and backs and breathe some clean mountain air. At that time, wives packed lunches in covered tin buckets with the top part of the container designated for dessert, mostly slices of pie. The miners always looked forward to seeing what, if any, kind of pie appeared in their buckets.

The old story went that if a miner had two slices of pie waiting for him in his bucket, then he had made his wife happy and she really loved him. If only one slice was there, the miner was an average husband and his wife cared for him. However, if the bucket’s pie tray was empty, that meant that the miner was not making his wife happy and there was no love left! My grandparents were married close to sixty years and needless to say, he had lots of pie. Cherry rhubarb was one of his favorites.

Recommended: Flaky Classic Piecrust, frozen (page 1), Sweetie-licious Crumb Topping (page 6)

Filling

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

¼ cup cornstarch, sifted

6 cups frozen unsweetened pitted Michigan tart red cherries

¹/₈ teaspoon orange zest

¹/₈ teaspoon almond extract

2½ cups fresh or frozen rhubarb (if using fresh, cut in ½-inch slices)

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, cherries, and orange zest in a medium pan.
3. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
4. Add the almond extract and fresh or frozen rhubarb.
5. Pour the filling into a frozen piecrust.
6. Cover with Crumb Topping, covering all of the pie filling.
7. Bake for 1 hour or more, or until the pie filling bubbles over.
8. Cool on a rack and keep at room temperature.

Mrs. Pricco’s Fresh Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Eat pie, share your time.

My friend Mrs. Pricco was one endearing woman. She was full of fun and had a smile that lit up a room and warmed your heart. She always was doing lovely things for other people—taking older relatives to church and doctor appointments, and making delicious meals and desserts for the downhearted and lonely. She simply loved to make someone’s average day a wonderful one. Mrs. Pricco’s homemade fresh strawberry rhubarb pies were loved by everyone who received one, especially by her adoring family. She was indeed a woman we should all emulate. She lived her life simply and beautifully, giving to others her time, her laughter, and her love.

“Love is the beginning, the middle and the end of everything.”

—Lacordaire

Recommended: Flaky Classic Piecrust, frozen (page 1), Sweetie-licious Crumb Topping (page 6)

Filling

1¼ cups sugar

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon tapioca (minute variety)

4 cups washed, hulled, and sliced fresh strawberries

2 cups diced fresh rhubarb, cut in ½-inch chunks

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

½ teaspoon fresh orange zest

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Mix the sugar, tapioca, strawberries, rhubarb, lime juice, and orange zest in a large bowl for 10 minutes or until the tapioca softens. Do not let the mixture stand too long or it will become too juicy to thicken properly.
3. Pour the filling in a frozen piecrust. Cover with Crumb Topping, covering all of the pie filling.
4. Bake for an hour or more, or until the pie filling bubbles over and a knife slides easily into the middle of the pie.
5. Cool on a rack and keep at room temperature. Best eaten on the first day.