It Might Really Happen...

So...ahem...it sounds like we might have some Internet worthy news to share in the coming weeks.  If you are reading this, it is because you have Googled "pies" or "desserts in Columbia, Missouri" or some other combination of terms that has brought you to this very first post on the very first day we have news to discuss.  Because to tell the truth, I haven't really told this news to many people.  In fact, you, unknown stranger, might be one of the very first to get this story from the start to the finish.

There used to be a pie shop in Columbia, Missouri named "Peggy Jean's Pies" and aptly, it was owned by two friends - Jeanne Wagster and Peggy Day.  And you might think "so what? pies are not really a big deal..." and in a lot of cases, you might be right.  But not here.  Peggy Jean's was a destination.  The pies were completely made from scratch with the best ingredients and love.  The shop sold traditional sized pies and also baby pies...a five inch personal paradise just for you.

Peggy Jean's sold A LOT of pies.  A lot of homemade, completely completed from scratch from recipes generations old, pies.  There was media coverage...television, newsprint, magazine, book mentions...across the United States and even internationally.

And Peggy Jean's closed in 2004.  What?  I know...why, right?  The short version of a sad story is this:  production and demand increased and Peggy's health greatly decreased.  How do you balance your baby business growing and your best friend dying?  It wasn't a question that Jeanne or anyone else could answer.  The doors closed, the equipment was sold, the Peggy Jean's sign went into storage.

But.  (And isn't that everyone's favorite and least favorite word, besides maybe "if"?)...but, pies were always in Jeanne's mind.  Even as Peg's life ended and Jeanne's life took twists and turns away from the Chapel Hill pie shop location, the idea and the love was always there.  She would discuss it with me (I'm her daughter) and I would dismiss it, remembering only when she would smell like exhaustion and flour.

I don't have to tell you this, but a lot happens to people's lives in 10 years.  Things occur and pieces move and suddenly, you start to think that bringing back Peggy Jean's is an AHHHH-MAAZZZ-ING idea.  So you mention it to a few people and uh...everyone wholeheartedly agrees.  You start to talk about logistics and money and long-term plans and you don't have any red flags...just smooth sailing through calm seas.  You think A LOT.  You use your iPhone calculator A LOT.  You Google the market cost of a 1,000 pounds of flour.  (You only do this once, but consider it enough to mark it off your bucket list).  You think some more.

And you find a spot you like.  And you make a list of to-do's a mile long.  You count how many days between today and Thanksgiving week, because if we are coming back...well, we are coming back in time for Thanksgiving, right?

So, whomever you are reading this, there is the news.  This will be the place where we document this process.  We have a potential shell of a location and an insane amount of unanswered questions.  Be a part of our journey.  

I'm meeting a contractor tomorrow at noon to discuss the space.  Maybe you care too, right?  Come back for pictures and thoughts tomorrow.

Rebecca