Pie Town - Lynne Hinton [112]
dash of salt
2 teaspoons soda
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
5½ cups flour
1 tablespoon anise seed
cinnamon and sugar mixture
Mix first 4 ingredients together until blended. Stir in soda and cream of tartar, then the flour. Mix in the anise seed. Shape dough into balls and roll in mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees (or 325 degrees convection oven) for 12 to 16 minutes, depending on size. Be sure to take these cookies out of the oven before they’re brown. They get crunchy when cooled, so if you like them soft, eat some a couple minutes after they come out of the oven!
From Barb Hively, owner of Cravin’ Cookies and More Bakery, Albuquerque, New Mexico
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AUTHOR
INSIGHTS,
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Lynne Hinton
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Reading Group Guide
1. New Mexico is often described as three cultures living together: Native American, Hispanic, and Caucasian. Which characters in the book represent these three cultures, and how?
2. Pie Town is a very small town. What are the advantages to living in a small town? What are the disadvantages?
3. What is the role of the angel, Alice, in this story? Who needs the angel most in Pie Town? Is it Alex or someone else?
4. How would you describe Father George? Were you surprised by his secret?
5. At what point in the story did you think Trina might be pregnant? Do you think she was treated fairly after people found out? Where do you think an unmarried and pregnant girl would get the most support, in a small town or in a more urban setting?
6. Despite its name, there are no pies in Pie Town. What significance does this have in the story? Do you think there will ever be pies in Pie Town?
7. How does Pie Town illustrate the idea of “community”? How do you define community?
8. What ultimately motivates the townspeople to help Father George rebuild the church? What does the church symbolize to the town? Why did Alex think it was so important for Pie Town to rebuild Holy Family Church?
9. Why does Alex never seem to be mad at his mother for leaving? Do you think children forgive more easily than adults? Why or why not?
10. Do you prefer cake or pie? What’s your favorite kind of pie?
Finding Pie Town
By Lynne Hinton
About fifteen years ago, when we were dreaming of moving to New Mexico from North Carolina, my husband and I were traveling through the southwestern part of the United States. On the trip from Albuquerque to Phoenix, we stopped in a little settlement known as Pie Town. I remember thinking what a quaint and funny name for a town. As we drove through Pie Town, we noticed a small restaurant and decided to stop and, with a name like Pie Town, have some pie. Imagine our surprise when we were told there was no pie. “No pie in Pie Town?” I thought, and that notion stayed with me.
People have often asked how I get an idea for a story, what interests me, how do I start. And the answer is something like the situation of finding no pie in Pie Town. I began to think about how often names of places or ascribed roles tempt us to make assumptions. We assume a small town will be welcoming and easy for newcomers to integrate themselves into. We assume a church will be a safe place, a loving and warm place. We assume mothers will be present for their children, and we assume children won’t die. Once we think about it, however, we realize that life is rarely what we expect. People behave in ways we never could have guessed, and life is certainly full of surprises.
Having served as a pastor of several churches, I am often intrigued by what church members think about themselves. Most church people will proudly announce about themselves to any visitor that they are a “loving” place, a “welcoming and hospitable” place. And yet, in my experience, this is not always the case. Yes, churches can be quite welcoming and hospitable to the longtime members, the families who are connected to the area, the children who grew up in the church. But for newcomers, churches can often feel alienating and cold. As communities, as churches, as towns,