I’m thrilled to tell you that we here in D.C. are about to have a pie guru in our midst. For reasons I still don’t entirely understand, I was able to persuade Kate McDermott to leave behind her lyrical little perch in Washington state and join me here for a few days so she can offer pie-making workshops in my kitchen.
Yabba dadda doo! I pick her up at the airport in a couple of hours!
In addition to running her Art of the Pie website and blog, Kate has a storied history as a pie-maker and practitioner of kindness-through-pies. She’s been singled out not only by local Seattle news media for her luscious fruit pies and heavenly crusts, but by nationally known foodies. Baking goddess Dorie Greenspan has said she would “do anything” to take one of Kate’s workshops. Former New York Times food critic and Gourmet magazine editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl flew to Seattle to share the art with Kate. And now I’ve got the privilege of hosting her!
Kate’s supplies have been arriving on my doorstep before her. We’ve already taken delivery of a big box of Irish Kerrygold butter, and 10 containers of leaf lard (the top-notch lard for pie crust, I’m told; from around the pig’s kidneys) from Dietrich’s County Store in the Pennsylvania Dutch country. A massive box of apricots from California’s Frog Hollow Farm arrived today. And now the lady herself arrives, with aprons and rolling pins in her suitcase.
We’ll be running around getting ready tomorrow for the Saturday and Sunday workshops, and just getting acquainted. After all, Kate and I know each other only through social media. I found her pie blog when I began mine in October; she is one of the few people in this country who blogs mostly about pie. For months, we’ve been “liking” each other’s Facebook posts and pictures, reading about each other’s adventures on our blogs, and tweeting back and forth. Then it was excited phone calls to arrange the workshops. By any measure, she is a complete stranger to me, but through the spirit of Pie Nation, we are now comrades. I look forward to learning all that she has to teach us, and am excited to have her here in D.C.
Stay tuned; I’ll post about her visit and her workshops in the days to come.
Wow, Cath! I’m so jealous. Have fun sweetie pie. Linder
I have known Kate for a very long time, like in elementary school. I have always admired Kate. She has a very infectious personality and can’t help being captivated in her presence .I have been Kate’s friend on Facebook over this past year and seems as though all her friends endear her as a wonderful, kind person and FRIEND.