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 Off the pie charts!
Career-changer Andrea DiReda
Taber finds dream job by creating homemade farm fresh no trans
fats pies -- made from scratch and ready-to-bake, at the Ever
So Humble Pie Company in East Walpole, MA
by Eric H. (Posted 12/12/05)
WALPOLE, MA -- Andrea DiReda
Taber tastes the sweet smell of success on a daily basis.
Tired of bureaucracy and waning
one-on-one patient care, Taber, 50, left behind 25 years of nursing
to create a business made from scratch: pie making.
The brave move was no "pie-in-the-sky"
idea, as Taber opened the Ever So Humble Pie Company in East
Walpole, in 2002. With a vision of making preservative-free pies
sourced from local New England farms employing responsible farming
methods, Taber's business has gained popularity as a wholesome
alternative to mass-produced, assembly-line pies laced with monosodium
glutamate, trans fats, hydrogenated oils (trans fats) and other
offending, unhealthy chemicals.
"If you take pride in what
you're doing, then you use the best ingredients," said Taber.
"We use unbleached, unbromated flour, natural corn starch
and farm produce including locally grown apples. The Big Apple
Farm in Wrentham (Mass.) supplies our apples. We use 250 pounds
of their apples a week. During Thanksgiving, we used 1,400 pounds
of the apples."
Likening her hand-crimped
pies to the "pies your grandmother used to make," Taber
said that a key to creating quality pies is employing "slower
production." that focus on "making pies the right way."
The result is a noticeably fresher tasting pie than grocery store
offerings. Taber also takes the road less taken when creating
pies. She favors cinnamon and lemon over nutmeg in her blueberry
pie. Flavors like raspberry nectarine, "Squmpkin" (sugar
pumpkins and winter squash) and orange pineapple create different,
delicious pie options. TheJumble Berry, the company's "Blue
Ribbon Winner," pie is sort of like a local farmer's market
"greatest hits" package with tart Cape Cod cranberries,
wild blueberries, strawberries and oranges.
"Mass produced products
use more seasonings than fruits, so customers know they are tasting
the 'real thing' with our pies," said Taber.
The Ever So Humble Pie Company
consists of a large manufacturing shop where customers can see
how the pies are made and a small retail section with a freezer
full of delicious fruit pies that customers bring home and bake
themselves. The frozen, ready-to-bake pies are also available
at local farms (see side bar for locations). Taber also offers
nutty tarts, fruit crisps and raspberry hearts (a heart-shaped
pastry made from pie crust and filled with tart ruby raspberries).
Taber's passion for pies can
be detected the minute a customer leaves the car and enters the
"Hogie" Building (named after the building's owner,
Terry Hogan), an old factory where "you would expect to
get bearings or sheet metal, not pies," said Taber. Outside
and inside, the sweet, pie aroma permeates the area so strongly
that it makes one wonder if all the grandmothers in Western civilization
moved to East Walpole.
Five employees create these baking
masterpieces, including Taber's son Daniel, 22, who passed on
a contruction-oriented career to, like his mother, work a job
he truly enjoys. Taber's other son, Timothy, 17, and husband
Donald -- a retired Boston fire lieutenant -- also pitch in at
the shop, as well).
The business has gained local
and national media attention, including The Food Network that
featured Taber's business on the show "Recipe for Success,"
focusing on people making successful career changes.
"It has been nice, the coverage
we've been getting," said Taber. "We really take pride
in what we do, so it's nice to get noticed."
Taber's love for baking dates
back to her Worcester, Mass., childhood where her mother and
two grandmothers' great baking skills served as blueprints for
her business.
"Both my grandmothers were
scratch bakers and my mother taught me how to make 'everything'
from scratch," said Taber. "My grandmother from my
mother's side had 11 children and she also made everything from
scratch. She made many things for the Polish church. I am the
third generation and am blessed to have those genes."
The strong love for baking never
left Taber, even during her busiest times as a nurse. As a graduate
of Memorial School of Nursing and Worcester State College, Taber
worked eight years as a neonatal ICU nurse at the Floating Hospital
in Boston, as well as working in home care and teaching nursing.
Her growing dissatisfaction with the nursing profession resulted
in considering a career change, as she found great joy developing
a pie line for, and working weekends, at Ward's Berry Farm in
Sharon, Mass.. At that time, Taber also obtained a residential
kitchen permit for her home in Sharon, Mass., and later shared
space at a friend's bakery in Medway, Mass.
She started thinking more about
a baking career and less about continuing in nursing.
"Nursing changed a lot,"
said Taber. "It wasn't hands-on patient care. I liked the
one-on-one patient care. It became more about paperwork and numbers."
Starting from scratch and baking
from scratch eventually became a success story for Taber. A growing
customer base, and a cooperative program with the local farms
where they supplies the materials to Taber and then sell the
final products has resulted in a beloved daily routine that goes
well beyond just making money. Taber works an average of 20 more
hours a week than when she worked in nursing and doesn't have
the consistent paycheck of her former profession. She wouldn't
have it any other way.
"It isn't about compensation,"
said Taber. "There are many other immeasurable awards that
come with what I'm doing."
The facts on the
Ever So Humble Pie Company
Location: 153 Washington St.,
East Walpole, MA 02081
Telephone: (508) 660-9731
Retail Hours: Mon. - Fri., 9-3
and Sat. 9-1
Web Site: http://www.eversohumble.com
Frozen, Ready to Bake Fruit
Pies
New England Apple, Wild Blueberry,
Cherry, Jumble Berry( tart Cape Cod cranberries, sweet strawberries,
wild blueberries and zesty oranges) Mince, Orange Pineapple,
Peach, Strawberry Rhubarb and "Squmpkin" (field harvested
sugar pumpkins and winter squash cooked with
low-fat milk and spices into a creamy custard).
Other products: Nutty Tarts, Fruit Crisps and Raspberry
Hearts.
Ever So Humble Pies are available
at these locations:
Allandale
Farm, Allandale Road,
Brookline, MA
Crescent Ridge Dairy,
Bay Road, Sharon, MA
Berberian
Farm, Otis Street, Northborough, MA (seasonal)
Whittier Farms, Shrewsbury,
Mass. and Sutton, MA locations
Foppema's
Farms, Hill Street, Northbridge, MA (seasonal)
Tangerini's Spring Street
Farm,
Spring Street, Millis, MA (seasonal)
Belkin Lookout Farm,
Pleasant St, Natick, Mass.
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