Where's the best pie in Clear Lake?
When my family gathers around the dinner table this Thanksgiving, there will be something missing: homemade pie.
That's because of an absence that will be felt far more keenly: my mother.
She died over the summer, and she was the one who always baked our Thanksgiving pies -- two pumpkin pies, an apple and a pecan at the minimum -- even when she had to do it from a wheelchair. All family functions revolved around this warm and vibrant woman, and it's hard to imagine how we'll get through our first gathering since her funeral.
But we'll have memories to sustain us. We just won't have pie made from scratch.
Out of three children, their spouses and six grandchildren, not a one knows how to achieve a flakey crust.
One of my sisters-in-law is bringing a back-of-the-bag cranberry relish from Dallas, and my other sister-in-law from Portland, a vegetarian, can be counted on to transform something fresh and green into something delicious and unhealthy. My specialty is the breads -- pumpkin, cranberry and banana nut -- and together we can muddle through the rest of the feast OK.
Except for pies, which I don't like myself. Maybe making a pie is like giving a back massage; you have to enjoy getting them to be truly good at delivering them.
But no one else in my family can conceive of Thanksgiving without pie, so I've been searching.
Tell me, please. Where can I buy a pie that's as good as homemade in Clear Lake? Please oh please, comment below. And if you can't comment, please email me at jenny.montgomery@chron.com.


