Woman, Bake Me Some Pie!

Published on Friday, September 7, 2007, by Kara Zuaro / Edit Post

Patty Pinner’s new cookbook, Sweety Pies: An Uncommon Collection of Womanish Observations, with Pie, puts a gender-specific spin on the art of pie-baking. Pinner writes:

I’m convinced that you can learn a lot about a woman based on what she feeds herself and the people she loves; a woman’s recipes—especially her prized recipes—are a revelation of who the woman is: what she thinks, how she behaves, what she values, and how she lives her life.

The same statement could apply to a man who loves to cook, but this particular book is all about the ladies. According to the Hartford Courant:

Pinner, a postal worker who lives in Saginaw, Mich., describes herself as a ‘descendant of that generation where a woman’s appearance, manner and domestic prowess were synonymous with her feminine identity.’

In other words, Sweety Pies harks back to a time that was either charming or oppressive, depending where you stand on feminism. The book includes pie-baking and man-handling tips, but if you’re a single lady who doesn’t have time to make her own pie crusts—or a baker-man who takes offense to the idea that pie-making is women’s work—it probably isn’t for you.

On the other hand, if you side with the sentiments of South Park’s Eric Cartman and agree that women of the world should “get back in the kitchen and bake some pie,” Sweety Pies just might be the perfect addition to your cookbook collection.

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POST A COMMENT |5 Comments

COMMENT

  • Any recipe of Patty Pinner is a sure winner! I don't have her book Sweety Pies, but I do have Sweets which includes some of her pies. Her's is the first cookbook I've ever read cover to cover as her childhood memories and family stories captivated me. Everything I've made out of Sweets has been a huge hit with my family and friends!

  • Thanks for the clarification. It actually is worth knowing that the reviews of cookbooks here will reference the quality of the writing, rather than the quality of the recipes contained.

  • Technically speaking, The Grinder is CHOW's "food media" blog. We simply point out what other people (bloggers, journalists, TV personalities, etc.) are saying about food. So, as much as I would have loved to hit the test kitchen and try out some of these pies, that's just not what we do here. Of course, if anyone has sampled Patty Pinner's pies, please let us know how they are -- I'm curious,...+READ

    Technically speaking, The Grinder is CHOW's "food media" blog. We simply point out what other people (bloggers, journalists, TV personalities, etc.) are saying about food. So, as much as I would have loved to hit the test kitchen and try out some of these pies, that's just not what we do here. Of course, if anyone has sampled Patty Pinner's pies, please let us know how they are -- I'm curious, too!-COLLAPSE

  • This post is about a cookbook, so it seems pretty relevant to me (a regular Chow reader).

  • This is a food site. Maybe next time you could mention whether the pies are any good.