Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1909-03-23
PIE FOR BREAKFAST.
Not the Worst Thing in the World,
Says Man Who Has Tried 1t.

Not the Worst Thing Ina the world,
Says Man Who Has Tried 1t.
pie for breakfast is the one I'M
failing reproach that is hurled at New
England when the lowest of outsiders
wishes to chuck odium. Take the
word Of man who has tried it
there are worse things for breakfast
than pie.
I'm free to admit" said he, accord
ing to the Boston Herald, that
never but once really experienced pie
for breakfast. By that | mean per
petual pie-pie for every breakfast.
not pie at a railroad station eating
house breakfast, but pie on the break
fast table just the same as butter or
sugar or bread.
THAT was some years ago. l spent
winter on a job pretty far back in
northern New England and l boarded
at comfortable little cottage in
four or FIVE house settlement for some
months. 'Twasn't really a farmhouse,
though it had little patch of ground.
1t was the home Of an old lady and
her grown-up daughter. An older son
who supported the family worked In
factory In a town some miles away,
coming home only over Sunday.
The old lady who took me In, lit
orally, not fguratively, was the cook
and she was some pie cook, not with
varied repertoire, SO to speak, but ex-
cellent and prolific with what she did.
1t was winter then and the pies for
the most part were mince or apple,
but there were any number Of those.
How she produced so many | can't
tell, for I'm sure I ate pie day
and she and her daughter ate some,
while the son could get away with
two or three from Saturday night to
Sunday morning.
"You see, she knew what piece Of
pie was. A piece was a quarter, and
two pieces for dinner or even for
breakfast were no disgrace.
81 never sat down at the table in
that house, breakfast or any other
meal, but that there was at least one
or oftener two pies on the table, not
always whole ones Jut enough and
with a large reserve to drawn on.
Furthermore, most of the weekdays
spent way back there | was at work
so far from the house that l carried
dinner pail, and did l ever fail to
find a piece of pie in it? / did not.
"And pie for breakfast is not the
only form of rural food that has been
unjustly abused I've known folks
sheer at steak that was first pounded
tender and then fried. But l know
lots worse things than a round steak
hammered awhile and then fried In
butter, real country butter, Of course,
and Served piping hot. At this little
house, of course, they didn't do their
own Strengthening, as many Of the
farpzsrs aid, but they bought outright
quarter of beef and half pig and
kept it down cellar, where it was cold
enough to kee9 anything.
ITO this day l am amazed at the
versatility of that pig. It's an old
Joke about the Chicago stockyards
using everything bat the squeal. but
| still believe that in some of the
dishes | had-the head cheese or the
souse, maybe-that squeal was con-
cealed. But l learned that winter
that sweet pig pork'-sweet as OPP
posed to SALTS good to eat in many
variations.
SIN fact, of all the real country
things | had that winter none was
wasted on me. The one thing l dread
ed was the weekly treat that the son
of the house brought home for Satur-
day night-oysters, canned or barreled
oysters, from which later stew was
made"