Distinctly Montana Magazine

pies thein sky www.distinctlymontana.com (big) STORY AND PHOTOS BY KIM IBES freshly baked homemade pie stirs the senses and awakens the soul. The art of making pies is close to becoming another relic of days gone by, a piece of Americana relinquished to such technological and less-heavenly advances like freezer-ready and boxed-up imposters. Lucky for us a pioneering spirit and pie making tradition lives on in Big Sky country. Three Montana pie makers from the Gallatin River to the base of the Rockies and deep in the heart of the Bitterroot carry on, mastering the secrets of a truly flaky crust, whipping to perfection a stand up meringue, creating mouthwatering combinations with the elusive Montana huckleberry and elevating the common green apple to tasty new heights. For these three bakers, pie simply makes life more delectable. Eating a hard-to-come-by perfect piece of pie is akin to consuming an all purpose elixir. Once found, with each bite the clock ticks a little slower, problems become a little smaller and smiles become wider. Though Marci Gehring has been baking pies for over five-years along the Gallatin Valley at the Coffeepot Bakery and Café, she's been crafting them for over 35. "I never get tired of making pies," said Gehring. "There's just something so comforting about putting them together." For Gehring, they're an expression of love and that, in a nutshell, is the only special ingredient necessary to make a really great pie. A Marci Gehring Gehring bakes over a 100 pies and countless turnovers each week. Her turnovers use the same crust and filling and are essentially a piece of pie "to go." Between the two, Gehring insures over nine varieties are available on any given day. Fruit flavors run the gamut from strawberry-huck- leberry with a streusel crumb top, blackberry-pear, cherry-rhubarb, and just plain raspberry, toss in a collection of cream pies, including sour cream raisin, butterscotch cream, and choco- late cream, blend in a medley of seasonal pies, "this is what I found in the cupboard" pies and "hmmm guess what I made today" pies, and you might begin to divine the extent of Gehring's gift. For the five pie-guys, a group of Friday morning regulars, Gehring insures that their favorite—a toss-up between the near-forgotten custard pie and Gehring's colos- sal lemon meringue, is warm and ready to serve. Tom Keyes says, "We've been going there for over five years. We just like pie and her crust tastes like grandma used to make. 63

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