Sometimes during an election year, some people could focus on what divides us. One Lexington woman has made it her mission to share food and music to help unite us.
It’s an early December afternoon in Lexington. Stephanie Duckworth, musician, physical therapist, and owner of Honeyshine Pies sings and strums her guitar while she and musicians Karen Jones and Matt Ruffner hold an old-time jam session at a neighborhood grocery store.
The 42-year-old Duckworth performs regularly and has entertained audiences from Lexington, Kentucky to the United Kingdom.
For years she organized old-time music jams in Lexington where her pie baking started taking center stage. Duckworth said she just wanted to learn to make a good apple pie from scratch. One thing led to another and pretty soon she started winning pie-baking contests.
“There was a pie contest for the Fourth of July downtown and so I had two pies at that point I could make pretty well. I entered them, one was in the made-from-scratch category and one was in the semi-homemade. So, one of my pies got first place and the other pie got second place. That was just enough encouragement for me to do more with it,” explained Duckworth.
Her pies are delicious works of art. Some fan favorites include pecan, spicy peach, and Moscow mule. The artist thinks it’s also some of the themed designs she adds for events like the Derby or UK Games that get people talking.
Duckworth said she likes to share her pies at the old-time jams and when she does that, she notices how the pie baking and music making are ingredients for uniting the crowd.
"So, baking is a way I can be creative but also make a beautiful delicious product that brings people together. Pie and coffee or pie and wine, people are going to stop for a minute and sit down and maybe they’ll talk about if the pie looks pretty or talk about maybe the pie that their grandmother used to make or that their mom used to make and taught them how to make it. Any number of conversations can stem from eating beautiful food with someone,” said Duckworth.
Now Duckworth gives workshops on how to create decorative pies. On this day four students sit at a long white table as Duckworth explains how to shape a unique pie crust.
Using a wooden rolling pin Beverly Futrell flattens a ball of pie crust and flips it into a pan. The 82-year-old said she enjoys honing her pie-baking skills in Stephanie’s workshop. She thinks pie is a great way to bring community and family together. And every October when Bev goes to the beach with a group she makes a pie.
“You talk about family coming together, I know sometimes when family comes together, especially in this election year there can be differences of opinion. How does something like pie diffuse that immediately?” asked Lawson.
“Oh definitely, definitely. There are some differences in my family. But we have no trouble in agreeing on pie," said Futrell.
Cindy Stewart uses her thumbs to press the crust into a decorative shape that resembles a wave. She believes coming together for a pie baking class or just to share a piece of pie can level the playing field especially when people may have differing opinions.
“You know, you’re together with a common purpose and it’s to do something delicious and fun together and bring your memories. And then tell stories while you’re making these things. Tell me about when you were little. Tell me what your family’s favorite pie was. And then you find you’re talking about these things that unite us,” said Stewart.
The class chuckles at their mistakes and the idea of trying to make pies as beautiful as Duckworth’s.
Stephanie Duckworth said the art of pie baking can be relaxing and a good focus in times of discord. Whenever she shares one of her pies, she hopes it will spark meaningful conversation and sings this Bonnie Raitt tune to herself.
“Let’s give 'em something to talk about, a little mystery to figure out. Let’s give 'em something to talk about…” sings Duckworth.
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