Marie Callender Homemade Pie Maven Chapter 1 Pie Icon You’re at home and hungry for a hearty meal But you have to leave for your piano lesson in 20 minutes Luckily there’s a Marie Callender’s turkey dinner in the freezer You open the square green box and pop the dinner in the microwave oven Your meal is ready in no time You top it off with a boxed dessert inspired by Callender’s famous pies The name Marie Callender’s is well-known around the country as a brand of frozen meals and desserts But Marie Callender’s is also a chain of restaurants These eateries got their start when the woman they were named after became renowned for her homemade pies Food Bite Marie Callender was born in 1907 in South Dakota Little is known about her early life and family including her last name In the 1920s Marie’s family moved west to California There Marie met and married Cal Callender in 1924 4 Both Marie and Cal were only 17 years old when they married
Today there are more than 65 Marie Callender’s restaurants In 1928 Callender gave birth to her and Cal’s only son Don Callender spent much of the next 20 years raising Don and managing the family’s household In the 1940s Callender’s life changed when she decided to begin a career 5
Marie Callender Homemade Pie Maven Chapter 2 Baking Boom Callender had become a skilled baker and cook while taking care of her family In the 1940s she decided to put these skills to work outside the home Callender took a part-time job at a delicatessen There she made salads and hot foods Soon the delicatessen’s owner asked Callender to make pies She baked the pies at home using her own recipes Then she brought the pies to the delicatessen Customers loved the pies light flaky crusts and fresh fruit or cream fillings The desserts were soon very popular Callender’s boss encouraged Callender to make more and more pies to meet his customers demand He even bought a small bakery where Callender could bake the pies At the bakery Callender was able to bake more pies than ever One day she baked more than 100 pies by herself The demand for Callender’s pies continued to grow Soon she could not keep up on her own Callender spoke with her son and husband about helping her The Callenders decided to turn making pies into a family business 6
Callender’s pie flavors include banana cream lemon meringue key lime and chocolate satin 7
