A Time for Pie

Many holiday traditions revolve around food, and birthdays are no exception. Baked pies are eaten by many families in homes throughout the Empire farmlands, made with layers of vegetables and meat or fish placed into a heavy iron or ceramic pan and then cooked in an oven. There are sweet versions as well made with chopped seasonal fruits and nuts. These are generally topped with a layer of potato mash, or sweetened oats, depending on the filling. A buttery, crispy crust, however, takes longer to make and more care to bake, so outside of wealthier residencies a crusted pie is generally reserved for special occasions, and in many families it is traditional to let the children each choose a pie for their birthday. While young folk generally choose seasonal sweets - cherries or peaches in spring, apples and squash in the fall - there are always a few who want beef and carrots or layers of cheese and potatoes. Once fillings are chopped and flavored with spices, a dough of flour and butter is mixed with a few drops of chilled sugar water. This keeps the butter from melting too much and adds a bit of sweetness. After letting a layer of dough bake on its own for a few minutes to get crisp, the filling is added. The extra dough is cut into letters spelling out the child's name and shapes to decorate the top of the pie. On a holiday, a copper or silver piece, depending on the family's fortunes, is hidden in the pie to bring good luck to whoever gets that piece. For a birthday, parents generally sneak the coin into the birthday child's slice of pie. Even though they know it's there, the child always beams with joy when finding the coin in their dessert.