U.S. FOOD TRENDS: PIE MAKES COMEBACK IN 2010

The age of the overloaded cupcake is over. Now comes the return of the pie. Americans are cooking and baking at home more. The times are prompting a revival of nostalgic comfort foods. They have less to spend on food and dining, so that means fewer ready-to-eat processed foods. They’re very concerned about nutrition, sustainabilty and local ingredients. They are returning to the simple joy of making and sharing fruit pies.

That’s why I thought it was time to create The Pie Calendar 2010. Here are some details – please pardon the PR language! ………………..

Just in time for National Pie Day, January 23, America’s foremost authority on America’s dessert has published The Pie Calendar 2010. The only calendar of its kind, The Pie Calendar 2010 is a 13-month celebration of pie and pie-makers in a full-color wall calendar.

It’s jam-packed with pie lore, pie illustrations, a great apple pie recipe, pie philosophy, pie photos, pie events plus pie tools and even pie poetry. This is THE calendar for every pie-maker and pie-lover and features sweet as well as savory pies.

In the calendar, October 2010, is dedicated to a wonderful event: Pie Night. Here’s an excerpt:

“The first rule of Pie Night: Everybody brings a pie to Pie Night. For 30 years on the Saturday between Halloween and Thanksgiving, a diverse group of loosely affiliated folks have met at an old Grange Hall. Sometimes there are 60 folks, sometimes more, and that means there’s at least 50 pies of all species. The flakes fly as we dash to taste pie appetizers, pie entrees and pie desserts before they are all consumed…. There always seems to be enough pie and there’s never too many of any one type of pie. It is as close to being a healing religious experience as any feast could be.”

John Lehndorff has been eating pie for 50 years, baking pie for 30 years and has written about pie as an award-winning journalist, restaurant critic and food editor for more than 25 years. He is the former executive director of the American Pie Council. He has judged dozens of pie contests and was the head judge for the National Pie Championships. He directed the Great American Pie Festival, was the spokesperson for National Pie Day, Jan. 23, and founding editor of the Pie Times newsletter. Visithis pie page at:  http://johnlehndorff.com/JL-Pie.html

View and purchase The Pie Calendar 2010 at:
http://magcloud.com/browse/Issue/53186

2010 MENU: Croatian wine and funnel sticks

TREND NEWS UPDATE:
- Forget about Napa, Tuscany and Burgundy. According to the Wall Street Journal, some of the hottest wines emerging in the next few years will come from Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia.

- In 2010, look for more menus without dollar signs or the word dollar on it, according to the New York Times:
“In the world of menu engineering and pricing, a dollar sign is pretty much the worst thing you can put on a menu, particularly at a high-end restaurant…. Pounded by the recession, (restaurateurs) are hoping that some magic combination of prices, adjectives, fonts, type sizes, ink colors and placement on the page can coax diners into spending a little more money.”

- Look for more tea on the menu and shelves in 2010, according to Packaged Facts’ “Tea and Ready-to-Drink (RTD) Tea in the U.S.: Retail, Foodservice and Consumer Trends.” According to the report, foodservice players from fine restaurants on down are expanding their tea offerings even as tea rooms and coffee/tea shops surge, suggesting
tea may be headed toward much broader levels of distribution and popularity.

- Look for “funnel sticks” at Burger King this year, joining their other sticks: chicken fries and apple fries. Taking off from the carnival treat, the funnel sticks are just mini-doughnuts.

(To order John Lehndorff’s Pie Calendar 2010, a 13-month celebration of America’s iconic dessert, visit: http://magcloud.com/browse/Issue/53186 or
JohnLehndorff.com.)