Pie, oh my! Just the mention of the word “Pie” opens the door to warm and comforting memories. Nothing says “Home, Sweet, Home” more than homemade pie. To me,  pie made from scratch is the essence of sweet domesticity. Such a nurturing gift of love! It’s so June Cleaver! It’s so Aunt Bee! Which you know I adore!

Beloved pie takes you back home. It’s an endearing, golden memory of a cozy kitchen where the air is thick as pudding with buttery aromas of pastry, sugar and spices. Breathing deep this pie-perfume is like getting a big Ol’ hug around your heart. It’s a soothing feeling of love that is both happy and delicious!  Maybe it was Mama, Grandma, or Auntie who stood at the kitchen table wearing a sun-faded apron, rosy cheeks and a smile. Kneeling on a chair, arms folded on the table, your eyes followed the rhythmic motion of the rolling pin as it pushed the dough back and forth.  Soft hands, dusted white with flour, gently lift the round pastry into the pan.

Warm sunlight streams through the window and shimmers on the juicy, berry pie-filling, it sparkles like rubies. You get to lick the spoon, sweet and gooey. Gentle conversation, mixed with giggles stir a deep sense of belonging and thankfulness in your soul. A glowing memory is made…one that will forever bring a twinkle to your eyes and comforting warmth to your heart.

 Even if you didn’t grow up with a memory like this, you can imagine it! You can create it! You can learn to make pie. You can make yummy pie-memories for your loved ones. But how?  Well, let me introduce you to the “cutest pie maker in the whole wide world”! She’s got the heart, the know-how and the recipes for the most amazing pies!

Her name is Linda Ruth Hundt. She is adorable! A little bit June Cleaver, Doris Day and Donna Reed all wrapped up in pearls and a darling pink bow! She’s perky and  bubbles joyfully like sweet, fizzy, soda pop! Her love for pie started with her Easy Bake Oven when she was a wee little Miss. He motto is “Eat Pie, Love Life”!

I’m blessed to call her my “Pie Sistah”! Linda Ruth wished that her name was Lindie when she was growing up so I nick-named her Lindie Ruthie and she calls me Ruthie Annie! Ha! She loves everything vintage like I do, so when we’re chatting on the phone, the minutes turn into about an hour and a half! She is so fun!! I kinda want to be her when I grow up!

Linda (or Lindie Ruthie! Ha!) had another wish…to have her own pie shop one day! She began by making pies at home with all of the fruit from her trees that ripened sweet in the summer sun. She began selling pies at the local Farmer’s Market. Soon her business grew and grew…and so did her dream. Finally, after a lot of hard but happy work, her dream came true! She opened Sweetie-licious Bakery Cafe’ in DeWitt, Michigan.

And just recently, she opened another  Sweetie-licious Pie Shop at the Downtown Market in Grand Rapids, Michigan!

Both shops are truly a slice of Americana!

Linda’s homemade pies are a sensation! Folks, with mouths watering, happily wait in lines that wrap around the corner!

Linda is also a 16-time National Pie-baking Champion! Including the 2011 Crisco 100-Year-Anniversary Innovation Best of Show winner and Food Network Amazing pie Challenge. This girl knows her pies!!!

 She also got to feed Willard Scott a slice of pie on the Today Show!

Linda’s been featured in dozens and dozens of magazines,

and during the Presidential Campaign, Mitt and Ann Romney stopped by on their Michigan tour to bake pie with Linda!

 At Sweetie-licious pie shops each pie crust is hand-rolled and crimped by her and her amazing group of happy pie makers.

 Linda pours her love into each pie she bakes. She believes that loving people and making delicious pies is her mission in life.

And now I’m so excited to tell you that my pie sistah just had her first pie cookbook published! SWEETIE-LICIOUS PIES. It’s jam-packed with all of her award winning recipes! So now we all can make the yummiest pies! It’s truly an All American pie treasure-book! Wanna see a peek inside?

Sweetie-licious Pies Cookbook is full color throughout with THE MOST ADORABLE PHOTOS!

Here she’s making pie with her twin sister and sweet mama!

I just think this is the cutest photo of her hubby of over 28 years and two darling daughters!

They live on a “farmette” in a turn-of-the-century farmhouse in Michigan.

This is Linda’s dreamy vintage stove in her farmhouse kitchen!

Oh how fun it would be if ovens could talk!!

Okay! How cute is this?!! A vintage table with a vintage tablecloth set with YUMMY pies next to an ADORBS vintage red barn!!

UMMMM..Seriously, I WANT TO LIVE IN THIS BOOK!

The cherry on top is that each recipe comes with the sweetest, most endearing story! That is my FAVORITE kind of cookbook! The kind that you want to curl up in a cozy spot with a hot cup of tea and read all about the wholesome goodness of sweet down-home folks who shared their love from the heart of the home…the kitchen. And then getting to savor the very recipe that became a treasured treat! Those kinds of stories inspire me with ideas on how I can show my love in fun ways to my family and friends.

In this pie-treasury, there are 220 pages of pure all-American, small-town, down-home, adorable-ness AND over 50 recipes for the most scrumptious pies EV-AH!  Here are just a few:

* Laura’s Sticky Toffee Pudding Caramel Apple Pie

* The Little Miracle Fresh Rhubarb Custard Pie

* Ellie’s Cherry Blackberry Peach Pie

* Mom McComb’s Mocha Hot Chocolate Pie

* Betsie’s Cool Key Lime Pie

* Aunt Ruby’s Beautiful Butterscotch Praline Pie

 YES PLEASE!

Just a few days ago I made her award winning

Tom’s Cheery, Cherry, Cherry Berry Pie.

OH. MY. GOODNESS!!!

This was a PAR-TAY in my mouth! So DeLiCiOuS!!

Yes!! The recipe is in the book!

If you love to bake or know someone who does, this would make the best Christmas or birthday gift! You can order Linda’s Cookbook here  or on her Website here.

 

“Sweetie-licious Pies transports you to Small Town America,

where pies cool on the windowsill, there’s a watering can in the garden,

and everyone gathers for family dinner.

Linda Hundt is truly changing the world, one pie at a time.

Make mine a slice of The Farmette’s Blueberry Basil Cream Pie!”   

— Judith Fertig, BBQ Queen and author of Heartland: The Cookbook 

 *The links to Amazon are affiliate links which help me to keep my blog,

recipes, decorating ideas and down-home goodness coming your way.

In celebration of Linda Hundt’s,  new cookbook, Sweetie-licious Pies, I’m giving one away, along with, this sweet vintage reversible apron, pictured above, from my very own collection! Just tell me your favorite kind of pie in the comment section below by December 17th. I will announce the winner right here on this Sweetie-licious blog post. The winner will be chosen at random.  After December 17, come back to this photo and look for the word “UPDATE” to see who the winner is!

UPDATE!!! THE WINNER OF THE SWEETIE-LICIOUS PIES COOKBOOK

AND MY VINTAGE APRON IS…..

DIANE TAYLOR!!

CONGRATULATIONS DIANE!

SWEET BLESSINGS ARE COMING YOUR WAY!!

Pie + hugs = love.

 If you would like to follow Linda on Facebook here’s her link:

SWEETIE-LICIOUS PIES ON FACEBOOK 

On Instagram go to @lindahundt

and for her Website click here! 

 

Be sure to enter my give away!

***Keep a look-out for my Christmas Home Tour coming very soon!!***

God Bless  your  darlin’ heart!

Aunt Ruthie

*all the photos  are courtesy of Linda Hundt.

(except the wooden spoon with berry pie filling,

Tom’s Berry pie I made, and the give away cookbook and apron)

319 Comments   Leave a Comment

 

I LOVE family traditions! What are they? They’re fun or endearing things you do with your family on a consistent basis whether it’s once a year or once a week. It can be something special that you do each season, like going to the pumpkin patch or picking out a Christmas tree. It could be something simple that you do every day like having supper around the table at night and ringing an old cowbell to let your darlin’s know it’s time to “come ‘n’ get it!”. A family tradition can be planning a family fun night where you play games or watch a movie munching on popcorn.  Or lighting a fire in the fireplace and sipping hot chocolate on the first cold day of fall. Tucking your kids into their cozy beds with a bedtime story and prayers then whispering “sweet dreams! I love you!”, as you turn out the light, is such a simple tradition yet so significant. All of these moments will warm the hearts of your children throughout their whole life!

Family traditions require time and commitment but the payoff is priceless! They are keys to family happiness!

Here are my 5 top reasons why I think Fun Family Traditions are so important:

1. Family traditions give us a sense of belonging. It’s this delicious and cozy feeling that fills your heart with a warm and comforting thought; this is my family, I belong to them, they belong to me and I’m loved. Every child deserves to feel this.

When my kids were little, Saturday was “family day”. It became our tradition to go for a drive in the country or collect shells on the beach, or  just to get an ice cream cone. Saturday’s meant spending time together having fun. Another tradition we had was if my husband or I noticed the sunset was unusually gorgeous we would round up all the kids throughout the house and say “Come see! Come see! God painted a beautiful picture in the sky!” We would run outside, look up into the glorious heavens and marvel with words like “Wow!! Look at the colors! So beautiful!”. Then we gave God a round of applause for creating such indescribable beauty for us. I love remembering my little family standing outside clapping and saying “Yay! Jesus!” Think about the significant effect this had on my kids.

2. Family Traditions create happy memories that will last a lifetime. These memories will be what shapes, strengthens and comforts each member of your family. They’ll draw goodness from these experiences which will fortify them throughout the happy and difficult times of their life.

Just recently my oldest son Dusty told me that when he was little, he would get so excited when he came home from school and saw that I had started decorating for Christmas. His eyes would light up and a smile spread across his face as he opened the front door and saw the staircase railing draped with garland and twinkling lights. That was a thrilling signal to him that Christmas was coming! Instant joy! He still treasures that memory! Decorating for the seasons, as you probably know by now, is one of our family traditions…something that was passed down to me from my mother.

When I was growing up my dad always made pancakes for breakfast every Saturday and Sunday morning. I loved waking up to the aromas of those sweet flapjacks and  maple syrup mingled with the scent of fresh percolated coffee.

 

3. Family Traditions create a close family bond. Spending time together, laughing, talking and having fun will draw the family closer together. Children feel a sense of  safety and closeness when the family experience is positive and nurturing. Doing fun things together on a regular basis is so important to the well being of your family. It seems to be even more crucial today with all of the modern modes of communication and entertainment…the internet, texting, video games,etc., all of which can cause the family to drift apart and become separate if we’re not careful to create boundaries.

I have a friend that lives far away from her daughter. They have a special tradition every Saturday morning. At 10am they both pour a fresh cup of coffee, sit down at their own kitchen tables and then call each other to have a heartfelt, mother-daughter chat. So sweet!

 

4. Family traditions give your family something to look forward to. There’s this giddy feeling that comes over children when they know something fun is going to happen. When I was a child we would go to my Grandma and Grandpa Cannizzaro’s  house for dinner after church on Sundays. When it got close to Sunday I would get so excited because it meant I got to play with all of my many cousins, eat the most amazing Spaghetti with meatballs (my grandparents were from Italy, so it was the real deal!) and enjoy all the homemade Italian cookies I could eat! I’m still savoring those memories! (And getting hungry!)

5. Family traditions can fill the hearts of our children with goodness. Taking time to do fun traditions sends a message to our loved ones, that our family is valuable. Traditions can also provide  hundreds of opportunities to instill wholesome morals and values into our kids. There’s time to talk about life and how our kids are feeling. Time to be emotionally and physically available.  And it’s a perfect time to tell our kids how proud of them we are. Time to teach manners. Time to give lots of hugs and pats on the back.

We as parents and grandparents can create our own family culture by making sure we show by example how to keep a good attitude when things don’t go as planned,  to be compassionate when someone is hurting, and to live the Golden Rule… “Do for other’s what you would like them to do for you”. Time together can also allow us to say the words ‘I’m sorry” when we’ve overreacted. Family traditions teach our children what is important in life.

 “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

Deuteronomy 11:18,19

As the years go by, and our children grow up or loved ones move away, our traditions may change. It’s important to be flexible and to create new traditions.We need to make sure that our family traditions are positive ones that will bring happy memories. As the upcoming holidays approach, I hope that you plan some fun family traditions, for they will become the memories that will warm the hearts of you and your loved ones for years to come! I hope you enjoyed this photo collage of my family’s fun tradition at the pumpkin patch!

I’d love to hear about a family tradition that you do with your family!

Sending you sugar and hugs!

Aunt Ruthie

 

28 Comments   Leave a Comment