The art of pie making cannot be taught mearly in a classroom. Instead, a live demonstration with hands-on experience often is required to perfect the skill. With this in mind, teacher Sharon Scharf provided her home economics class with a veteran pie-maker to learn from. Seventy-eight-year old Marjorie von Euw, Scharf’s mother, visited campus on Nov. 7 to reveal her secrets of baking.

“I came because of my daughter,” von Euw said. “I am interested in working with youth because they are the future of the world and that’s what I feel led to do.”

Indeed, von Euw has dedicated much of her life to serving others. In addition to over 20 years served sewing for the Head, Hearts, Hands, and Health Program (4H), she continues to do volunteer work for Trinity Presbyterian Church.

As she has done since she was 16, von Euw still makes all her own pies and clothes.

“Mrs. von Euw actually showed us how to make the pie crust and so it was a lot easier learning from a demonstration than from a recipe book,” Jenna Burford, ?05, said. “Pie making is more of an art rather than cooking and I hope that I can develop the skill with my hands that she has.”

Von Euw returned to campus for the fifth year to demonstrate the proper method for pie making, to the delight her daughter.

“It is important to carry on old family traditions,” Scharf said. “It’s a good thing to get back to cooking basics, and make sure that our recipies are passed on.”

According to von Euw, the secret of successful pie crust is regulating the amount of ingredients and mixing them in a specific order.

“It’s amazing how few ingredients are required to make a pie,” Shelby Pettitt, ?03, said. “I never knew how important a pie crust was to the overall taste of the pie. She explained the process in a way that was easy to understand. I can’t wait to be able to create a pie like hers on my own.”

Over the next few weeks, the class will be applying their new-found knowledge by making a plethera of pies, including pumpkin, cream, pecan, and fruit.

Bradley Hart also contributed to this article.