Kathy Rice, artist, storyteller, and experienced beekeeper, is now also the author of two books based on the guests and recipes of The Pie Place Café. Her most recent book is entitled Secrets of the Pie Place Café.
Author Kathy Rice has published yet another book brimming with stories about the guests and recipes that are the flavor of The Pie Place Cafe. Secrets of the Pie Place Café: Recipes and Stories Through the Seasons features not only a wide variety of great recipes, but also the relationships that grew between the staff and their many guests.
“Then, of course, there are our guests at The Pie Place Café, a continued source of inspiration,” Rice writes. “They are the voices within my stories.”
Many of Rice’s stories feature the youngest Pie Place guests. Bringing his own unique idea of a good breakfast, Gunnar is “a happy, snappy kid” who “prefers his bacon ‘snappy.’”
Then there are little Grace and Keegan who insist on “dippy eggs” to make their breakfast complete. After Gunnar’s story, readers can turn the page to the following recipe and make some “snappy” bacon of their own.
Some of the stories were more somber as regular Pie Place visitors for one reason or another had to move on. In “Finding the Words,” Rice shares a story about two of the Pie Place’s guests, Ted Haaland and Maria Faust.
“I liked Ted Haaland and Maria immediately, an outgoing couple dedicated to each other and excited at the prospect of building a summer home on Lake Superior,” writes Rice.
One year, Maria’s parents visited the café, bearing the sad news that Maria had passed away.
“From the grief, Ted found an unexpected place of solace. ‘I woke up one morning early after Maria’s death and felt a poem,’ Ted explained. He sat down in the kitchen and started writing. He hasn’t stopped writing since then,” Rice writes.
Other stories have a real North Shore flair. One such story, supplied by the adventures of the Hungry Jack Outfitters family, David and Nancy Seaton, and their two sons, Ben and Will.
“Planning Ben’s high school graduation party, David and Nancy pondered what food to serve. A barbecue seemed festive and appropriate. Ribs, pulled pork, a pig roast—so many choices,” writes Rice.
However, Ben had a better idea. An unfortunate friend hit a moose that winter, and the butchered animal was now packed into the Seaton’s freezer.
“When they asked Ben what he wanted for his graduation feast, he had a practical idea. ‘We’ve got plenty of moose. Let’s serve pulled moose!’”
The balance of bittersweet with light and cheery stories makes Secrets of the Pie Place Café a beautiful collection of stories as well as recipes. It seems Rice has an unending supply of wonderful stories to share, all with a link to one of the dishes served at The Pie Place Café. Readers will meet people from all walks of life, some who live in Cook County and others who visit during the warmer months.
Kathy Rice will be at Johnson Heritage Post Gallery this Tuesday, May 24 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Stop by to meet the author and pick up your own signed copy of her book. There will also be an author reading at 6:30 p.m. For more information, contact publisher Lake Superior Magazine at 888- 244-5253.
Rice will also be at Drury Lane for a Writer’s Salon on Saturday, May 28 at 5 p.m.
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