Customer Reviews

Humble Pie: Musings on What Lies Beneath the Crust

5 star:		(6)
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3 star:		(2)
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Anne Dimock has written a delightful exercise on the importance of everyday life, and the foods that define much of its pleasure. While pie (mainly apple) forms its core, she writes affectionately and with deft assurance of
lives lost and loves gained and generations passed and present. Her discursive essay on apple varieties is especially interesting, as well as her view of crust and the somewhat frightening use of pie-cutting methods as a Rorschach test of personality types in men. A great book for the holidays!

As a life-long Pie Maker (I'm 58 and learned how to make pies from my German grandmother when I was 9 years old), I couldn't believe my eyes when my husband gave me this book for my most recent birthday. In fact, I read it cover to cover and then baked an apricot pie! While I found the actual information quite useful (such as the treatise about different apples), it was the way Anne Dimock presents the philosophical, even spiritual, aspects of being a Pie Maker that really resonated with me. This is not just a cook book; it's a book that celebrates all things handmade, genuine, created through love and industry. We who are Pie Makers know what it means to mix together a dough that "feels" right; put together an interesting filling (I love apples and blackberries, and I'm "famous" among my husband's friends for my apricot pie), dot it generously with butter and place the top crust. And then the magic of opening the oven and being able to tell if the pie is done by the amount of bubbly juiciness. Yes, we Pie Makers need to celebrate our good fortune in having a book that now puts all our feelings and joys of making pies into words. If you're a Pie Maker, make this book the next one you read, preferably with a piece of your own delicious pie! Oh, and one more thing -- be sure and pass on your Pie Maker knowledge. My 6-year old grandson doesn't think it's a complete visit with "Grammie" unless we make a pie together. He has a couple of little pie pans (similar to the ones my grandmother gave me) so that he can make his very own pie and not have to share it with his 2 year-old sister!. I'll be reading Humble Pie to him on his next visit! -- Louise Miracle (Bloomington, IN)

This book warms the heart and brings a smile to those who enjoy eating a good apple pie, or any pie for that matter. It's a must read for all who sit in awe of those who heed their calling to make these homemade masterpieces. The book won't prompt you to go out and buy pie .... it will elevate you to want to try to make one on your own!

Friends from Stillwater Minnesota gave me this book two years ago. Last week I finally read it cover to cover in one sitting and determined to make two blueberry pies. I make a very good pecan pie, but my fruit pies have always been failures: too dry, too watery. Between the recipes and the stories, this book somehow inspires in a pie maker just the right touch. One feels personally escorted in the kitchen by Anne Dimock. My blueberry pies turned out perfectly and I was pleased to take one to a graduation party where it received many compliments.

I am not a "Queen of Pies" and probably I never will be. I am no where near baking the amount of pies Anne Dimock states a "Queen of Pies" has to bake. Plus I commit a terrible sin - some of my pies have only a bottom crust, some have meringue for the top.I could probably pull off a "Queen of Cakes" title though.
Part cookbook, part memoir, part journal made for some very tasty reading for me. I was hesitant to review this book, fearing I couldn't due justice to the amount of love M's Dimock pours into this book. It's the journey she takes for her mother's funeral and how it is all tied together by pies.
The memories of her mother and grandmothers' pie making abilities are beautiful. I felt I was talking to a friend. Her advice on how to tell what kind of a husband a man will make based on the way he eats homemade pie is funny but enlightening at the same time. And the recipes that are scattered through out the book are very good.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a cook's personal journey regarding making pies as well as to someone who wants to beef up his/her pie making skills. There are some tips in the book you'd only know if you had baked dozens of pies.
It's a lovely memoir, not overly sentimental, and to me, it was interesting through out the whole book. I often wonder why some people are drawn to make pies or cookies or whatever. What motivates a person to specialize in that particular baking field? And of course, with the easy availability of store bought pies, some people think "why bother"? But baking a pie isn't just about feeding people - it's about creating love to be shared with people. You're not going to spend your time baking for people you don't like, it would be ridiculous. M's Dimock's love of her family and pies shine through every page in this book.
Buy it, read it, make some pies and memories.

Entertaining and instructional on a very American tradition. Humor combined with information. A great short read!

...and then the author gets a little strange with her pie analogies and I began to lose interest. However, I thought it was interesting as I enjoy baking pies. There are some recipes, too.

It was a short read...mostly a memoir with a few basic recipes. I was disappointed that there were not more recipes.