TORRANCE TRIBUNE September 1, 2016 Page 7 TerriAnn in Torrance Have a Favorite Pie? Story and Photos by TerriAnn Ferren Who invented pie? After asking several people, I discovered that most have a definite and specific answer to the query. They didn’t actually care who made the first one, but confidently shared which one they prefer. Most people know that pies were made way back in the Egyptian Age and were typically meat pies. In school I learned the Pilgrims brought apples to this country, but I am not sure they made apple pies at that time. Then again, how did the expression, ‘As American as apple pie’, or ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ become popular? No one I asked seemed to know, and no one said a ‘meat pie’ was his or her favorite either, which would include chicken pot pie or shepherds pie. In addition to asking people about their favorite pie, I was curious if anyone actually baked pies at home. What I found out surprised me. The next morning, I asked students in my stretch class if anyone baked pies anymore and Claudia Fisher immediately told me, “I make pies a lot, because my husband loves them so I make them almost every week.” When I asked her what her husband’s favorite pie was, she told me apple pie. Martha Bauman laughed and said, “I have to make three pumpkin pies the Wednesday before Thanksgiving – to be ready for breakfast Thanksgiving morning.” Usually, I eat pie for breakfast the morning after Thanksgiving. I had no idea I was missing out on a day of ‘traditional pumpkin pie eating.’ Jane Borthwick said she makes all kinds of pies too, and has been making pies nearly all her life, because her husband also loves pie. All this talk about pies opened up a conversation about different types of pies. Mincemeat pie anyone? Jane said mincemeat pies traditionally contained: beef, pork, suet, seedless raisins, currants, sugar, brown sugar, oranges, lemons, citron, apples, molasses, ground cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cider. Jane then confessed she mostly makes raisin pie now, instead of mincemeat, and makes a killer lemon meringue pie. Then Martha said she whips up lemon meringue pie that is so tart your lips pucker! Listening to all the pie chatter, I wanted pie at 8:30 a.m.! Everyone also agreed apple pie was a big favorite. Jane said she uses Pippin apples because she likes a tart pie and ordered apples from Oregon last Christmas for her apple pies. She went on to tell me she rolls a huge bottom crust and mounds the apple pie filling in the middle of the pastry and then folds up the sides so none of the juicy goodness escapes in the oven. Someone said that raisin pie was dubbed ‘funeral pie’ probably because raisins were available year round, even in the winter. Makes sense, I suppose. My Aunt May used to bake delicious raisin pie, served warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream slowly melting down the sides. My daddy loves banana cream pie, but he doesn’t eat that decadent delight anymore and has trained himself to say ‘apple pie’ when asked. My mom’s favorite? Apple pie. Hum. My brother, Tommy told me his favorite is strawberry pie. Not that strawberry pie all smushed up with sliced strawberries, he likes the one from a notable restaurant we all know, with whole strawberries and sweet glaze ladled heavily over the top. Then, he decided his favorite is a mixed berry pie from a specific market that carries a specific type of pie from a specific city. Really? So I drove to the market, found the pie, and bought it for him. And here I thought people mostly baked cookies, but I found out in my limited investigation, that is not true. In fact, Martha Bauman told me she doesn’t even like cookies and only bakes pies! As you can imagine, at this point I was ready for some baking, and testing if pie would win out over cookies as a favorite dessert. The only decision ahead of me was what type of pie would be perfect for the test. I wondered if I took a pie into an office along with cookies – would people choose the pie, or the cookies? And what were their favorites? Although I am not sure of the number one cookie, I thought freshly baked chocolate chip cookies would be perfect going up against my homemade pie. The race was on. That night I baked chocolate chip cookies and a cherry pie. Although I wanted to bake a pumpkin pie, the grocery was out of pumpkin, so I opted for cherry. I like cherry pie. What surprised me was it didn’t take very long for me to whip up cookies or bake the pie. Somehow, I had thought both tasks would be A, tedious, or B, time consuming. It was neither. And I was rather proud of the way my pie came out of the oven, lightly browned and bubbling hot. The only mistake I made was slitting the top crust a little bit too much. Next time, I will make a lattice design. The following morning, I packed up the chocolate chip cookies and my cherry pie – excited for the vote. Was a piece of pie the ‘go to’ snack or was it a cookie? I couldn’t wait for the results at the end of the day. In the evening on my way home, I picked up my survey from the office and happily found 13 people participated. Guess what? Seven people prefer pie, including, Dyna, Steve, Loretta, Elizabeth, Jordan, Anita, and John Kalinski. The overwhelming favorite pie was apple but cherry tied for second place along with lemon meringue. Six people voted for cookies. Jon voted twice so I think he likes them both the same, and Steve and Tom both like the cookies because of the ‘convenience’ factor – you can eat them on the run. Scott, Jean, Lisa and Sheryl all like cookies too with the favorite split between peanut butter and chocolate chip. Scott must bake because he was quite specific, noting he likes peanut butter cookies with a Hersey kiss. There were a couple standouts – Steve likes custard pie and Jordan is a fan of old fashioned rhubarb. My Aunt Daisy had rhubarb plant growing just outside her kitchen door in the back yard and I remember the tall red stalks I thought looked like celery. There are numerous types of pie. Simple pies, complicated pies, even pie recipes on the back of packaged ‘Dream Whip’. Patrick Golden told me he remembers his mom making a simple ‘Dream Whip’ pie with a layer of whipped cream cheese topped with a can of cherries that he thought it was simply delicious. Maybe the love baked inside something as simple as a pie penetrates the heart forever in memories that never die. Are you hungry yet? Have a fabulous pie recipe? Make time to whip up your favorite pie and surprise your family, a neighbor, or friend. And if you have an especially wonderful recipe, send it along to terriannintorrance@gmail. com. And remember the words from an Old Saxon proverb that says, “Apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze.” • Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Freshly baked Cherry Pie ready for the test. Dr. Byock from page 3 conversation to see if the treatment is consistent with what was wanted. And the family will also be ‘treated’ for their own stress to ensure they are getting enough rest, have a place to clean up or shower and ways to communicate with extended family and friends. We would look at this as a personal experience and not just a medical event.” Among the most telling statistics, 70 percent of Americans say they would rather die at home surrounded by loved ones than in a hospital—and yet sure enough, 70 percent die in a hospital, nursing home or long-term care facility. The result in most cases is unnecessary, ineffective, often-unwanted and very costly medical treatments at the end of life that can lead to financial ruin and family discord. To address the situation, Dr. Byock advocates that all patients over 18 have advance health care directives on file. Under the new system, caregivers receive training on how to provide advanced care planning and how to discuss serious illnesses with patients and families while always keeping the patient’s specific needs at the forefront. “If we know anything about illness, people’s needs are highly personal—so the best care is not a one-size-fits-all model,” Dr. Byock noted. “Before we ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’…we ask, ‘What matters most to you?’ so that we can make sure we’re not just doing things to people but know what their goals are in order to make decisions about treatment with them and not for them. Ethnicity, upbringing, religion and individual idiosyncrasies can all play a part.” While it has taken decades to get this far, Dr. Byock reports huge inroads made in moving to a whole person care philosophy. “Through the work the Institute is doing, we are driving a transformation that can be an example to the rest of the country,” he said. “The future of health care is in person-centered care and Providence Little Company of Mary is an ardent supporter and major leader in this progression.” Born and raised on the Jersey Shore, Dr. Byock had no clue what he wanted to do for his future living when he started his college studies in the Washington, D.C. area. “In high school, my assumption was whatever I did in my career shouldn’t require that much college,” he said. He took a few political science courses, but found himself floundering. “But then when I challenged that assumption and just looked at what truly interested me, it was clear I wanted to help take care of people. It was like the clouds finally cleared.” He went on to complete his undergrad work at the University of Colorado with a degree in biology and continued to medical school there with the eventual post-graduate work in Fresno as part of the University of California, San Francisco program. “I thought I would be a rural family doctor and did that for a short time,” Dr. Byock said of his early career. “I was also enamored with emergency medicine and started a hospice. I did a lot of volunteer work and saw many patients at their homes.” Spurred by his experience with Mr. Rodriguez and others, he began to serve on committees as an early proponent of palliative care and wrote a number of papers on the subject. In the late 1990s, he accepted an offer to lead a national program to provide grants and technical assistance to health care systems trying to integrate hospice-like care within the mainstream. Dr. Byock worked with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to establish palliative care in ICUs, rural health clinics, pediatric specialty hospitals and even the state penitentiary. “It all worked brilliantly and opened up the doors to expand palliative care across the country,” he said. “At Dartmouth, we spent a decade building out palliative care within the medical center and through teaching programs. Now at Providence, we hope to take it to the next level where the whole person model will be the new mainstream.” Married with two grown daughters and a couple of grandkids plus other family in the Los Angeles area, Dr. Byock lives close to the hospital and has quickly grown used to the pleasures of West Coast weather and the South Bay’s many amenities. “We are enjoying ourselves a great deal,” he confirmed, though he admitted his schedule is packed to the gills. “I rarely get to see patients anymore these days. At this point, I need to do what I can do to support others in this effort…” Dr. Ira Byock will hold a workshop on advance care planning at the Redondo Beach Library (303 N. Pacific Coast Highway) on Friday, Sept. 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. The event is free, but registration required. For more information, call 310-318-0650, or visit www. providence.org/institute-for-human-caring. •
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