Have no fear; the story is here!

In addition to the news spot, two local papers have done stories about the pie phenomenon.

Be sure to check out the Cedar Falls Times’ story here, as well as Linda Wither’s story in the Waverly Democrat here.

Sue is meeting with the Waterloo Courier this week, so stay tuned…we may have a bigger article coming!

Let’s keep the media fervor going! Spread the word to your friends and family about Slice of Life. Tell your friends and family to tell their friends and family, and on and on.

Interested in helping to promote the pie story book in other ways? We’ve posted some Slice of Life marketing ideas—just click through to learn how you can help!

Want to help us market Slice of Life? Here’s how:

• Help us contact newspapers from surrounding towns
• Email one friend about the pie storybook (if you want to email your page to a friend, just contact Sue Fletcher!)
• Blog about it!
• Put up posters or snippets of Slice of Life in your work break room or rec areas, complete with order form and contact info
• Offer to bring pie to those who order ___ pie books
• Bring books to your book club, birthday club, bible study, etc.
• Invite Sue (and/or one of our charities) to speak at your service club
• Have a pie auction (with proceeds going to our charities)!
• Sponsor a pie ride (do we have any pie-themed Ragbrai‘ers this year?)

After one night of book sales, Slice of Life raised more than $4200 for local charities. And that’s just the beginning. Please help us promote the books—and these special organizations! If you have more marketing ideas for Slice of Life? Feel free to share them in the comments!

Sunny Lane from KWWL’s Someone You Should Know will be coming to the pie party to do a story on Sue, chronicle the making of the pie book, and spread the word about this fun and charitable endeavor.

Stay tuned for more details and enjoy the pie party!

Last weekend a friend and I tried out a new pizza and wine bar here in Denver, Colo., called The Oven. My friend had mentioned to our bartender that it was my birthday (OK, five days after the fact), so we got our pick of fresh desserts.

Not surprisingly, I went with the apple pie and vanilla gelato. As you can see by the portion, it was big enough to split. The gelato was wonderful—something I’m going to remember for future pie-eating reference.

And, speaking of Italian food and homemade ice cream—I recently had homemade Earl Grey ice cream at a friend’s dinner party and loved it. The recipe came from Giorgio Locatelli’s, Made in Italy: Food and Stories.

The combination of great recipes and storytelling in Made in Italy reminds me a lot of the pie book—and both make great gifts for any cooking aficionado.

The book
…Is at the printer! I know we’re all excited to see the final product—and try out the pies listed therein!

Rest assured that if you’ve contributed a pie recipe and story, you’ll have first crack and ordering a few. Sue will follow up with everyone regarding the pre-order.

The charities
Sue is gathering the charities’ qualifying information and will get everyone the list of charities once it’s finalized. And remember, for each $25 book purchase, $15 will go to the Cedar Valley charity of your choice!

The party
On March 4, we’ll celebrate the completion of the pie book with what else—pie! The specifics should be arriving in your inbox; feel free to invite friends and relatives or those who made cameos in your pie stories.

Have questions? Give Sue a call or shoot her an email and she’ll fix you right up. Hope to see everyone on March 4!

A friend of a friend recently made a homemade pumpkin pie from scratch—using real pumpkins instead of pre-canned pie filling. I don’t know that I’ll ever be brave (or patient) enough to do this, but the photos are encouraging. And, a bonus to making pumpkin pie from scratch is that it’s a lot healthier.

See the pie come together (and get the recipe) here.

“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Something doesn’t taste right,” my aunt said. “Like something’s missing.”
“Well, did Mom add the sugar?” [Story forthcoming in the pie storybook!]

Everyone assured me that the sugar was properly measured and added, so I went over to the counter to give it a shot.

“Yep. Something’s not quite right.”

The pie actually turned out fine. (Add enough Cool Whip and anything tastes heavenly, right?) But later we got to thinking that maybe the spices had lost some their punch.

So my question to all you pie experts is: What’s the shelf life of spices? How do you keep them as fresh as possible? Tell me all about it in the comments!