Say it ain't so Joe! Front page above the fold with a huge color photo in today's edition of The Washington Post. That cutesy country store on Route 7 in western Loudon county that makes those wonderful "homemade taste" pies? Not quite what it seems....
A Closely Held Recipe for Success
At Loudoun's Hill High Country Store, Cherished Pies May Taste Familiar
"We love these pies. This is family and tradition here," said Lincicome, 56. "Hill High is special to this area."
The pies, which sell for $9 to $14, are so special that some customers drove for more than an hour yesterday to pick them up. As hundreds trooped past shelves of country bric-a-brac and lined up for their orders, Cindy Bamford, a store worker, and her three daughters hustled to keep up.
A nice tableau right? Makes you wanna drive out there and get some right? Goes to show you that image is everything:
Except it's really like this: A bunch of factory-frozen pies are dropped off outside the back door, and then workers, including a brawny, bearded guy with tattoos, stick them in the oven.
So where do the pies actually come from?
"We get them from four or five different vendors," said David Heimburger, another owner.
One of them is Sara Lee.
Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee.
True confessions -- I have purchased pies there once or twice -- never knew that the pies were Sara Lee, but then again I was unimpressed by the pies, hence I only purchased pies from ther once or twice.
Second true confession -- the pumpkin pie I'm serving today to my parents came from Trader Joe's! OTOH the chocolate mousse pie was homemade last night.