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Wednesday, September 4, 2002
No Peace From Pie at State Fair
By Charlotte Balcomb Lane
Journal Staff Writer
Apple is a perennial favorite, but pies made with just about any combination of berries are really catching on. Anything with rhubarb sells like hot cakes, but sweet and gooey brownie-chocolate chip seems to tickle the fancy of many younger pie-lovers.
If you want to know firsthand about homemade pies — any flavor — head directly to the Asbury Café, located on main street at the New Mexico State Fair. For 40 years, volunteers from the Asbury United Methodist Church on east Candelaria, along with help from nine other churches, have been baking and selling slices of homemade pie to ease hunger in Albuquerque.
And not just our collective sweet tooth. Last year alone, volunteers from the Asbury Café donated $38,000 to organizations that serve the poor and hungry in Albuquerque. Money was divided among the Albuquerque Rescue Mission, the Storehouse, Noon Day Ministry, Project Share, St. Martins Hospitality Center and Meals On Wheels.
And every cent of those donations came from good pies and drinks, hamburgers and ice cream.
"They're pretty generous," said Anne Foster of the serving sizes. Foster is a volunteer spokeswoman for Asbury United Methodist Church.
Starting in summer, about 450 volunteers get busy baking, starting with homemade pie dough.
"We have a set crust recipe that is given to each baker," explained Foster.
Volunteers have "pie parties" during which they form an assembly line that rolls crust and makes filling. They fill the pies and freeze them until the day they are needed. Then, the pies are baked, sliced and sold. By the end of the fair, volunteers will have made and sold approximately 2,500 pies in about 30 flavors.
Slices of pie sell for $2.50, or $3.50 topped with a scoop of ice cream. Is there a better way to ease hunger?