Day Trips

Photo by Gerald E. McLeod

The Pie Peddlers in Glen Rose is ready to come to the rescue in case you have a "pie emergency." With 24 hours' notice, you can have a fresh, homemade pie ready for your next potluck obligation.

"Most of our customers are from out of town," says Jean Ford. A lot of them, evidently, are on their way to family dinners, reunions, or dinner parties where a meringue pie for the hostess would make a nice treat for the guests. At Thanksgiving, the bakery sells nearly 300 pies.

"Or you can call us in the morning, and we'll put a pie back for you," says Rhonda Cagle, the business' other owner and pie maker.

Same-day service is a little more difficult since the Pie Peddlers is only open on Friday evenings and all day Saturday. If this sounds like a part-time business and a full-time job, it is.

Ford and Cagle have been friends nearly three decades. Both are also kindergarten teachers nearing retirement. They got into the pie business gradually over the years until they went pro about eight years ago.

The ladies are at their third location, a little shop half a block from the Somervell County Courthouse and across the street from a bird sanctuary. You can enjoy a slice of pie at a table inside or outside with a fresh cup of coffee, or grab a whole pie to go. The chalkboard on the wall lists what's available of the 12 varieties the ladies make, including sugar-free versions.

"We try to make enough pies that there is a good selection left by Saturday afternoon," Cagle says. If there are any leftover pies, what doesn't go home with the employees goes to the sheriff's office, church, or the school.

The pair got such a reputation for donating pies to the high school football coaches that when a new coach was hired, one of his benefits was listed as free pies, Ford says.

Besides making great pies, the gals also get high marks for marketing. Their former students get a free slice of pie any time they visit the shop. "We've sold more than a few slices to the moms and dads," Ford says with a chuckle.

Both of the ladies grew up baking, but Ford probably has the most flour in her blood. "Pies were the first thing my mother taught me to cook," she says. She comes from a family that believed no meal was complete until dessert was served.

The bakery's two most popular pies are coconut meringue and Every Berry, a mixture of five berries plus rhubarb, that they invented. Ford's personal favorite is strawberry-rhubarb pie, but Cagle favors the coconut meringue.

The Pie Peddlers doesn't ship its pies, so the only place you can get one is at 104 S.W. Barnard St. in Glen Rose. To place an order, call 254/897-9228.

955th in a series. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of "Day Trips" 101-200, is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.