I love a good rolling pin, especially old ones that have seen many a pie crust in their day. I have had a dear collection of rolling pins throughout my baking career, most of which are scattered around my pie shop. Throughout the years,  I would pick them up at second hand stores for a few dollars, mainly because I couldn’t bear to see them forgotten by the masses.  

I love thinking of their former owners.  I believe them all to be expert pie bakers, generally because of the patina of the wood and the worn colors on the handles. Clearly, given the condition, they either tried for years making a good pie or simply made good pie for years. I am sure it is the later. I am also convinced that these pins were the magic wands of our “foremother” pie bakers, the ones that knew the truth in a flaky pie crust and the honesty in a velvet pie filling.  Much like a musician needs to be “as one” with their instrument, a pie baker needs to be “as one” with their pin.  

My favorite pin is a sentimental favorite, as it was my lovely mother’s. She received it for a wedding gift some 56 years ago. She used it for years and years pumping out hundreds of delicious and unforgettable pies. Her rolling pin certainly left more than a glance of an impression on me. While growing up, when I saw the pin on the kitchen counter, it was truly time to rejoice, for I knew a pie was to be enjoyed in my near future. When I married 25 years ago, my mother handed down her beloved rolling pin to me. I happily honed my pie baking skills with my dear rolling pin, as a new wife, as my children grew and then at my dreamy pie shop. 

 I loved rolling pie dough with my heirloom rolling pin. Unfortunately, after 56 years and thousands and thousands of pie crusts, its bearings have finally worn out.    My dear pin has clearly earned its time to rest and its special place of honor at home. It sits humbly on my kitchen shelf, admired and respected for its wondrous body of work and its tireless contribution of… changing the world one pie at a time! 

Eat pie, love life,  xoxolinda