But I, when I undress me
Each night, upon my knees
Will ask the Lord to bless me
With apple-pie and cheese.
~Eugene Field

If you’re a pie lover, or know one, I’m about to make your day.

Starting today, Nov. 1, Two Fat Cats in Portland will be taking orders for a “Pie of the Month” club that begins in January. You can order either 9-inch pies or 3.5-inch mini-pies, and you get to choose which pie you want every month.

“If you want to get a pecan pie every month, you can get a pecan pie,” says bakery owner Stacy Begin. “You can use your membership to try a different pie every month. It’s really easy, and we’re hoping people will look forward to getting the pie every month, and seeing what’s in season and what sort of new flavors we’re trying.”

Two Fat Cats’ pie menu includes blueberry, mixed berry, coconut cream, chocolate cream, sour cherry and other pies. Seasonal pies include apple, pumpkin, strawberry-rhubarb, cranberry-apple, peach and key lime, depending on the time of year. For St. Patrick’s Day, they make a banoffee pie. In March, they do a tarte de sucre, a sugar pie made with maple syrup.

The Pie of the Month club will cost $48 for a year’s worth of mini pies, or $230 for a year’s worth of 9-inch pies. The cost translates into one free pie out of the dozen included in the price, Begin says. Customers will receive a passport-style card that will be kept at the bakery and punched every time a customer comes in to pick up one of their monthly pies.

Begin said the mini pies are basically a single serving and are popular with single people, senior citizens and anyone who just doesn’t want a lot of pie lying around the house at one time, tempting them.

Begin says she ran a similar, smaller-scale pie club when she had an in-home bakery, and it was a hit with customers.

“The people who bought memberships with me either gave them as a gift or they were frequent customers,” she said. “Some of them bought a pie once a week. It just was economical for them.”

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About the Author

Meredith Goad has harvested oysters on the Chesapeake Bay, eaten reindeer in Finland and sipped hot chai in the Himalayas. She writes the weekly Soup to Nuts column and enjoys a good cocktail.

Meredith can be contacted at 791-6332 or mgoad@pressherald.com
On Twitter: @meredithgoad

Susan Axelrod's food writing career began in the kitchen; she owned a restaurant and catering business before turning to journalism more than a decade ago. To relax, she bakes, gardens and hikes with her husband and their two dogs. A newcomer to Portland, she is an online content producer for the Press Herald.

Susan can be contacted at 791-6310 or saxelrod [at] pressherald.com.
On Twitter: @susansaxelrod

Wendy Almeida and her family have a smattering of livestock and a summer garden. After 10 years of her kids being involved in 4-H, she's finally accepted the term "hobby farm" to describe her family's work at sustainable living. These days her morning starts with milking a goat before heading into the office for her day job as an assistant editor for features.

Wendy can be contacted at wea [at] mainetoday.com or on Twitter @wea1021.

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