Handheld Pies

I need another cookbook like I need a hole in my head. But I love love love cookbooks! Especially pretty ones. A dear friend gave me a gift card for the Harvard Bookstore with a note that said, "For things you want to read, not things you have to read." Such a thoughtful gift! Today I learned that Harvard Bookstore was purchased by Mark Kramer for $300 back in 1932. It's a bit like Von's but with a different smell. The smell is familiar, but it took me a long time to put a finger on it. It's the smell of hot binding glue, because there is a printing press right in the store! I'm not sure why the smell was familiar. All I can figure is maybe it is the same glue used for fixing labels on bottles. I've been on my fair share of tours that involve bottling of delicious beverages, and the label machines are usually my favorite to watch.

Judge a book by it's cover? Me? Noooo.

Anyway, I digress. I was first drawn to the cookbooks. That, of course, made me really homesick. Looking at cookbooks in bookstores is something I almost always do with my closest friends. It just wasn't the same looking at cookbooks alone. I found a lovely cookbook called Handheld Pies. The book actually has some quality reading involved! There are all sorts of stories about little cafes, bakeries, and bakers. The photography is well done which makes me want to make the little pies even more! Plus the recipes look fantastic. I can hardly wait to make home made pop-tarts! I might even try that this weekend. I will also need to run to the True Value hardware store and pick up some of those short, wide Ball canning jars. I'm telling you, that store has everything! I will also be going there for sewing thread if I get up the nerve to hem my own pants.The first recipe I want to try is: chocolate cinnamon pop-tarts.