I have been craving pecan pie lately. This is not a rare thing. I think most people crave pie and just don't admit it. Every time I think of pecan pie it reminds me of one of my favorite neighbors, Mrs. Brendel. She passed away a while back but I think of her around this time every year. She would stop in the office every now and again and bring me goodies like historic photos of my office building and tell me about old businesses around town. She was the second visitor when I opened my office. She came down and took my picture and grabbed a business card to put in the photo album that she kept of historical facts around Marine. I was proud to make the book!
One day Mrs. Brendel called and asked if I could print some return address labels for her. She said that she needed some for envelopes and to put on some pans when she gave out baked goods. That way people knew who to return the dish to. Now, I don't actually print return address labels but she was one of the sweetest people on the planet so I gladly printed them up and told her to come on down. She came in to pick them up a few moments later and asked how much she owed. I told her it was really no problem and there was no charge. She insisted that she had to bring something but I refused. And thank god I did. A few hours later she returned with two individual pecan pies that fit perfectly in each hand.
They. Were. Amazing.
No offense to debtracy (pronounced as one word said quickly), my mom, but they may have been the best pecan pie I had ever had. And of course they were made from scratch. After that every time Mrs. Brendel needed anything I just said yes. It didn't matter what it was because I knew I was going to get a tiny pie just for me. If she had asked me to wash her windows I would have gladly done it for a pie.
I love that I have a business in a place where people still pay in pie. My waist line doesn't really love it but I do and I hope it never changes.
