Page 91 - United States of Pie

Americans have a long history of romanticizing Southern
cuisine, from barbecue to Creole dishes such as jambalaya to soul
food, perhaps the region’s most emblematic style of cooking. Pie
plays no little part in that reputation: pecan pie and sweet potato pie
—two American classics—are practically synonymous with the
South, and no dinner there would be complete without a slice,

especially if guests are invited.
At the Texas Pie Kitchen in Austin, Jen Biddle merges the South’s
delicious history of pie making with its equally famous legacy of
unparalleled hospitality. For the people who work at the Texas Pie
Kitchen—a nonprofit job-training program—pie is so much more than
a decadent dessert; it is a path to self-sufficiency and self-reliance,

and a source of pride in hard work and a job well done.
It all started back in 2000, when Jen, a social work grad student
and record store clerk at Austin’s Waterloo Records, decided to
make a pecan pie for one of her favorite artists, Lyle Lovett, who was
coming to the shop for an in-store appearance. She used her
grandma’s dough recipe, and the recipe for the filling came from her
aunt. The pie was a hit, and Mr. Lovett thanked her profusely. Later,

when Willie Nelson was scheduled for an in-store appearance, her
coworkers urged her to make another pie for the country music
legend. Jen didn’t play favorites, and obliged. Jen’s fan base soon
expanded from country music crooners to her coworkers and friends,
and as her reputation grew, she began to take special orders and
bake and sell pies from her home. With that, the Texas Pie Kitchen

was born. Her tiny business was hardly lucrative, but she enjoyed
the baking—plus, she had larger plans for the Kitchen.
As a graduate student in social work, Jen was exposed on a daily
basis to the hardships of Austin’s impoverished and underserved
residents; nearly 20 percent of Austin’s population lives at or below
the poverty level, and the largest percentage of those people are
between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four. With Jen’s success

baking pies for paying customers, she began to think about the
larger picture. Maybe she could combine two of her loves—making
pie and helping others—to make a difference for Austin’s at-risk
youth. It took some years to develop a business plan, establish
nonprofit status, recruit volunteers, and grow awareness and interest