Cajun French: la tarte (la tart) – pie
Pie? Don’t even mention sweets around John or make way for the stampede. As we eat our way through the Texas Hill Country we try new, recommended, or interesting places. One of those places was the Fredericksburg Pie Company – they only sell pie.
Yes, that is correct only pie; lots of them. The pie shop is located in a small house in the downtown area of town; one street off the main drag. It is an unassuming building with a large front yard and front porch to enjoy your pie during nice weather.
The first time we ventured in, they were not busy so we were able to visit with one of the owners, Twany. Along with her husband, Merle, and son, Jade, they are the Fredericksburg Pie Company. Merle is the pie maker while Twany and Jade are the “helpers”. Their pies are made with fresh ingredients using no short cuts.
Since the family are natives of Kansas, we had to ask; why Fredericksburg, TX? After returning from a 30 year anniversary cruise and finding the company Merle worked for was taking a different course, the questions began – what do we want to do? They visited Fredericksburg and kept returning. In fact, they visited ten times before deciding it would be home. Why pie? Because they make darn great pie. In fact the pie crust is a three day process and yes, it tasted that good. They have celebrated their tenth anniversary in business and are going strong.
One thing you must remember if visiting – go early. Their business hours are – Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 10:00 to 5:00 and Sunday 10:00 to 4:00 or until sold out. Correct, they sell out and then the closed sign goes up. Remember the early bird gets the worm, or in this case the pie.
The first time we visited it was midday and the pie selection was excellent. We decided on the pie of the month – peach blueberry. You could taste the freshness of the peaches along with the tartness of the blueberries. Together along with the three day crust, it melted in our mouths.
Our second visit was later in the day and the pie selection was much less. We selected a peach praline all the while wondering about how sweet it would be. No worry, the pie was fresh with peaches, pecans and sticky praline sauce but not very sweet. Paired with a cup of fresh coffee we enjoyed at a table on the front porch along with conversation with new friends – heaven.
The Tully’s mission is “to serve pie that is as good as or better than our Mothers and Grandmothers made and serve it in a relaxed family style atmosphere”. This mission was accomplished on both of our visits. In fact, it’s probably a good thing we do not live in Fredericksburg as this could easily become a habit which would catch up with us in the long run!
