THE PIBLE

You won't find pible in the dictionary because it's a word I've concocted as I begin my search for a comprehensive pie reference book. Pie + Bible = Pible and I desperately need a Pible to guide me through my 2011 pie making endeavors. My collection of 200+ cookbooks yields not a one book on pies. I recall owning a Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts book, but it sat forlornly on my bookshelf like a neglected orphan. I don't recall what I did with it. It probably ended up in a yard sale. Or maybe it ran away in the middle of the night, jealous of all the attention I lavished on my cake cookbooks.

On a recent trip to the bookstore in search of a Pible, I was at first pleasantly amused and then slightly exasperated as I scanned the dessert section of the cookbook nook. It became quite obvious that the cake category overshadowed all others. The titles were catchy and it seemed each tried to outdo the next.

There were macho sounding titles: Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss

Titles with a spiritual bent: Cupcake Heaven, Heavenly Cakes, The Cake Bible

Ethereal titles: Cakes to Dream On, Cakes to Inspire and Desire

Geographically inspired titles: A World of Cakes, United Cakes of America

Medical titles: The Cake Mix Doctor, The Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor, The Cake Mix Doctor Returns

Witty titles: Cake Me-I'm Yours, All Cakes Considered

In all there were 36 cake cookbooks flamboyantly crowding out the others. After scanning the shelves several times over in a frustrating search for a pie cookbook, I uncovered a whopping three. It was as if they were cowering in the shadow of their pompous neighbors. And as flashy as the cake titles were, the pie titles were plain jane:

Pie
Southern Pie
Pie & Tart

A fourth title, Whoopie Pies, didn't really qualify as a pie cookbook, but at least the title was tantalizing!

I pulled "Pie" off the shelf using both hands. This 640-page tome looked like the perfect Pible. The author's passion for pies spilled out from the pages of the book like hot bubbling blueberry filling. Chock-full of tips and brimming with detailed instructions, I wasted no time hoisting my Pible to the checkout counter (but not before sticking my tongue out at all the stuck-up cake cookbooks).