Sometimes the best weekends are the ones we don't plan at all.
Last week, I wrote that since it was Labor Day weekend, it was time to start making plans. I hardly took my own advice, and it turned out to be a great time anyway.
Saturday morning I loaded up my 2-year-old girls to run an errand. On the way, we saw a sign that said "Fried Pies!" Forget errands – we headed straight for those pies.
The sign led us to the Amazing Grace Holiness Church in Sand Springs. When we opened the heavy double doors to the church's kitchen and banquet hall, I knew we had found something special.
Six or so women were in the kitchen, frying pies and drizzling them with a powdered sugar glaze just as soon as they hit the cooling racks.
Truly, these pies would make my list of best things I've ever eaten. They were still warm, with a flaky crust and a perfect filling-to-pastry ratio.
The pies were $1.50 each or $15 a dozen and came in chocolate, apple, strawberry, lemon, cherry, peach and apricot.
We waited until we got home to taste them, but the entire way home my girls said, "Momma, pie. Momma, pie." They know a good thing when they see it.
On a trip to St. Maarten in the Caribbean, one of the best meals I had was at a picnic bench at a church fellowship dinner. We paid next to nothing for stewed chicken, plantains, lobster kebabs and grilled pineapple.
I nearly always stop when I see a sign for a bake sale, and it's always been worth the detour.
If you want a taste of those pies, you'll have to wait until November when the Amazing Grace Holiness women will make Thanksgiving pies. I know I'll be there.
