World piece A pie baker's global quest for peace, love, and understanding

Beth M. Howard

Book - 2022

Beth Howard always dreamed of circumnavigating the planet; not to tick off a list of tourist sites, but to immerse herself in the culture of each country by making pie with local residents. Pie had healed her grief after her husband's death, so why not use it to heal the world and promote peace? Hauling her rolling pin from New Zealand to Australia, Thailand to India, Lebanon to Greece, Switzerland to Germany and Hungary, Howard uses America's iconic comfort food as a means for connecting with people in their homes, kitchens, and cǎfs. In each region, she offers pie lessons and, in turn, learns about the surprising origins of ingredients and traditional dishes--including pie in its myriad forms. During her demanding three-month j...ourney, she meets charming characters, experiences uncanny coincidences, and finds kindness when she least expects it. She also encounters geopolitical unrest (past and present) that prompts the questions: Why is world peace so elusive? And what can we do to achieve it? She offers some answers in her feisty, often funny, always unflinching voice. Underlying her pie and peace mission is her personal story about overcoming fear, letting go of grief, searching for a new home, and making room for new love. A balanced blend of multi-cultural insight, world history, social commentary, immersive travel, and the comfort of pie, World Piece could be described as Waitress meets Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, as Howard takes the reader on a deeply intimate, delicious, and inspirational global adventure. more