by Susan G. Purdy
As a child Purdy remembers singing, "Shoofly pie and apple pandowdy/ Make your eyes light up and your stomach say 'Howdy!'," so she's included both recipes in this comprehensive book on pies. Shoofly is a Pennsylvania molasses treat and pandowdy a New England farm dish, related, she says, to "Cobblers, Slumps and Grunts." There are also chiffon pies, strudels, hearty fare such as chicken pot pie, and even a songless recipe for four-and-20-blackbirds pie. Purdy teaches piemaking in New Milford, Conn.; her prose is as light and flaky as her crusts. (Atheneum, $22.95)
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