Pie Day

Pie Day takes place in Scott, Louisiana annually on Good Friday at the home of Paul Begnaud. Begnaud’s home is situated in the middle of town in the old red brick bank which he converted into his home. Artwork covers his yellow walls from floor to ceiling and even hangs on the exterior of the garage. Inside Begnaud greets visitors, mostly friends from town or nearby Lafayette as the morning hours increased.

The tradition of Pie Day has been occurring in Begnaud’s family and first began with his Grandmother over 100 years ago. His mother took it over, followed by his sister for 15 years when Mr. Begnaud’s “inherited’ the tradition. The pies are made the day before and this year’s count totaled 104. My husband enjoyed the fig pie, while I tasted the lemon custard and my sons loved the chocolate.

Pies were laid out on tables covered in red and white checkered tablecloths both inside and out. The crowd spilled out into the windy springtime sidewalk due to the tight quarters inside. Music was played by a guitarist and fiddle player who hailed from Kentucky.

Mr. Begnaud insists his guests eat pie of off his mismatched china, with sterling silverware and porcelain tea cups. When one of his guests came into the room holding a Styrofoam cup of coffee he chastised them telling them to use the real tea cups. Women were in the tiny kitchen which used to be the bank vault, quickly scrubbing so once you put you teacup in the kitchen it was then cleaned, dried and filled with coffee for another guests within minutes.

As we left, I asked to take one piece of pie home since I had only sampled one flavor. He insisted that I fill an entire pie tin full of different varieties and then cover it with a paper napkin. My family and I left with a full stomach and a sweet feeling that can only be experienced when you eat pie on a spring day at 10:00am in the morning.

For the photo essay please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIKc0j2kvCA