"blueberry pie" news and stories

While in Maine, I had enough blueberry pies to blow me up and turn me violet like the character Violet Beauregarde in the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. I've been told that Maine has over 60,000 acres of wild blueberries this time of the year. So, what better way to take in the agriculture of Maine than to savor a bite or two of blueberry pie.

I had one blueberry pie, in particular, that stood apart from all the rest. It was at Jordan's, a diner-like institution, in Bar Harbor, Maine. It was served with a large scoop of deliciously sweet and creamy vanilla ice cream. The crust at the top of the pie was slightly flaky. The bottom tasted like a soft chewy cookie. Ah, the tiny blueberries bursting with flavor in the inside!

Like Gael over at Pop Culture Junk Mail, I didn't even realize that Hostess got rid of the magician guy who was on the front of their pies since the early 70s. I don't usually buy snack pies anymore, though I do love them (both Hostess and Drake's).

I know that products and companies and logos have to change over the years, but I always feel a little sad when a classic character or design is changed. Really, did the change improve sales? You would think that keeping a classic character would endear a company to loyal customers even more.

Now if someone could answer this question. What exactly was the magician? Was he human? The body shape suggests a banana, or some sort of legless apple slice. Or maybe the Penguin from Batman.

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• This week's recipes: Pasta with Bell Peppers and Ham, Baked Beans, Big Blue Slaw, and Pears Poached in Red Wine.

I devoured these as a kid*. They were one of the regular junk food items my sister and I would buy at the store down the street to eat while watching The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family on Friday nights. I saw them at the store the other day and decided to pick up a box.

Hey, today is National Pie Day!

The American Pie Council calls pie "the ultimate comfort food," and I bet a lot of people would agree with that. So what should you do to celebrate National Pie Day? Well, the first thing you should do, of course, is eat pie. And then maybe you can enter the 2007 APC Crisco National Pie Championships. Or maybe you could perform random acts of pieness, by sharing a pie that you bake. And there are many other ways to mark the day, including pie sales, contests, teaching, and singing pie songs.

Pie songs?

The pie above is Chocolate Death Pie, and the recipe is here.