In the summer of 2019, my wife, having recently completed her Master’s Degree, received a call for a job in small-town Saskatchewan. Having been city-dwellers, this was a large leap, but after some short (surprisingly short!) discussion, she scheduled a flight to come meet with them over a weekend in Rosthern, Saskatchewan (appx population of 1600). I was to follow a day and half later after finishing up my work week.

She called me after meeting with people all day and expressed how cute the town was, and that it seemed to pack a punch way above its weight-class: great grocery store, hardware store, nice park and community pool, good schools, strong community, nice homes, and then there was Station Arts: a train station turned local theatre, art gallery, and tea room. “They have the most amazing Coconut Cream Pie!” she said. “We’ll go when you get here, it’s amazing!”. I thought that highlighting a dessert that I’d only had a few times in my life was a bit of an odd thing, but I’m always willing to try some Pie.

 

She – Didn’t – Lie.

 

The tea room was run by the town’s mayor, and was a pride and joy of the community. Sadly however, all things come to an end. The time came to either pass the torch to someone new, or close down the tea room, and the decision was made to close. No more coconut cream pie dates with my wife.

However, I discovered that the recipe for the pie (not the delicious crust, but the filling), was included in a cookbook they had sold as a fundraiser. I was given permission by the author to digitize the recipes.