Happy New Year, Fam!

Happy New Year, Fam!

Lauren Bolden, Pie Bar

Happy New Year to all our pie-loving family and friends! 

Looking back over the past year, I am overwhelmed by how much Woodstock has continued to embrace our little pie shop. 2016 brought us much joy, the opportunity of a challenge, and more pie then we could have ever imagined. In our shop, we work around a four-season calendar as opposed to a twelve-month calendar. Part of our commitment to continue to provide the best pies possible is to honor the season in which we are present. 2016 provided us four beautiful seasons, each with its own set of challenges and rewards.

Winter 2016
sweater weather, dreary skies, custard & cream pies

This was our first winter in the shop, and we were unsure how it would look. Generally, people stay home and hibernate during the colder months, and sometimes it felt like we would never see yall again.   But, as usual, yall were good to us and despite the cold weather and darker nights, yall still came to see the pies, and I like to think, to see us as well. We began offering Rosemary Chicken Pot Pies, and they were a hit. The perfect comfort food for a cold evening.

Spring 2016
farmer’s markets, sunshine, strawberry rhubarb pie

Spring time in a southern pie shop is a unique experience. The weather is hot enough to feel like summer, but not quire hot enough for all those beautiful fruits to be ripe and ready for pie. Of course, there was one fruit pie exception in Spring 2016 -- Strawberry Rhubarb! Strawberry Rhubarb pie was available for a painfully short period of time due to the brief growing season of strawberries and the lack of rhubarb in our great State of Georgia. I ate a slice every day, no exceptions. The overlap of fresh strawberries and rhubarb in the Spring is so short, we had to take advantage while we could. Spring of 2016 also brought us our first Pi Day and a parking-lot party with live music and hay bales to lounge on. The line was long, but yall were in it for the long run. We made 100 pies and sold 99. Pi Day 2017 – we’re coming for you.

Summer
heat waves, honeysuckles, fruit pies

Finally!! Summer is the season of plenty. The shop was full of beautiful pies made with fresh, Georgia grown produce. Sweet, ripe peaches, strawberries that taste like the sun, and blueberries so plump and full of goodness you could cry. I know I sound crazy, but summer time in Georgia is my soul sister. I’ll deal with the heat, as long as I can get my hands on those peaches and berries that are just begging to be baked into a gorgeous pie. Summer 2016 also allowed head-baker, Olivia, and I the opportunity to participate in Cooking Channel’s Sugar Showdown. Of course, yall were not able to see the outcome until this past fall, so we spent four long months keeping the secret of our win!

Fall
scarecrows, thanksgiving, pumpkin and apple pie

Welcome to pie season. As soon as the first scarecrow goes up on Main Street for Woodstock’s annual Scarecrow Invasion until the holiday season comes to an end, our little shop seems to continuously buzz with life. Apples were trucked down from BJ Reece Orchard in Ellijay and we peeled and diced and sliced until we couldn't hardly stand. Fall 2016 ushered in a whirlwind of joy – our 1-year anniversary as a pie shop, a feature article in Georgia Backroads Magazine, a 700 pie Thanksgiving, and the chance to bake a few pies for my personal dream companies, Jeni’s Ice-cream and Hedley & Bennett. Fall brings so much delight and relief and we were so grateful to be a part of the spirit of the season this past year.

As we look ahead to 2017, I can begin to see an outline come together. A year full of fresh, hand-crafted pies and the opportunity to continue to grow as a part of the Woodstock community. We cannot wait to spend another four seasons with you and your families.

Happy New Year. See yall in 2017.

Lauren & Cody Bolden

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