Pie - at the Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction

It was the highlight of each visit last year to stop by the little kitchen at the auction for some pie.  To be honest, that was one of the strongest memories that I wanted to share with Mary about the place.  So once we’d seen everything I knew to show her, we walked on back there to check out what was on the menu for the day.

There were four choices:

·         Peanut butter

·         Apple

·         Blueberry

·         Oatmeal Pecan

I was surprised there was no peach.  I wasn’t disappointed.  Only surprised.

Mary picked the blueberry and I had oatmeal pecan (which had become a favorite of mine after last year).  (Peach is also a favorite).

There was a kind of informal voting on Facebook after I uploaded the menu photo.  My friend Brian, out in San Francisco, where they have no pie, apparently, suggested having one each of the fruit pies.  I’m guessing about the lack of pies there because he dissed the oatmeal pecan. 

David was quick to correct him on this – agreeing with me, by the way, but then I did learn about this auction thing from him.  David added that he had been out to the auction on Tuesday (I think with his first lot of tomatoes), and he had chosen cherry pie that day.  I also had a chili dog – David did too.

Well, the pie experience was a good one.  I remembered seeing a roadside place that had pies for sale on the way in – and Mary and I stopped off on the way back to pick up this awesome peach pie.

I do hope I can make time to get back to the auction from time to time.  It’s a great experience, and a good reminder of where our food comes from.  I can’t stroll through a grocery store anymore without connecting the dots from the produce section back to the farms through auctions like these, held regionally throughout Virginia and across the country. It’s worth a half day field trip for everybody to check one out.

By the way, the website for the Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction is www.svproduceaution.com