In a world that celebrates cake as the premier dessert option for nearly every occasion, I am an outlier. Cake doesn't do it for me.

As a man of humbler tastes, I simply prefer the ice cream portion of "cake & ice cream."

However there is one dessert option that "takes the cake," if you will.

But not just any pie. We're talking pie that is made and baked with care and attention to detail.

I first started caring about well-made pie when my brother decided to master the art of making pie when we were kids. Quite an undertaking, one I didn't fully appreciate back then.

Yet, his pies were good. Great, really. Better than anything you could buy at the grocery store. This was all before he was even a teenager.

So, up until this day, I don't eat just any old pie. After McDonald's stopped deep-frying their hand-held, molten-lava apple pies years ago, there isn't much room in my life for a run-of-the-mill pie.

The best pie shop in America permanently closed its doors yesterday.

Papa C Pies in Brentwood, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville ended its glorious run. It's the only place my family has bought pies from over the last five years.

The input costs finally overwhelmed their operation and made it tough to do business.

A few years ago, I was so enthusiastic about these pies that I invited proprietor Chad Collier on my podcast, having never met him before—only his delectable chess pie. He agreed and we had a grand time talking sports and pie.

Chad told me yesterday, "There are seasons in life. This is the end of one for me, but there is another that God has for me. All is well!"

Great perspective from a great man.

But a sad day for pie.

As always,

Brian

P.S. – I don't know if I can bring myself to ever eat pie again. Time will tell. For this reason, I ordered several pies just before Papa C Pies closed the doors for good on Saturday.

Somewhat related, one food-related product we're proud of is our own Naturally Ordered Hot Sauce. It turns out that it is way cheaper (per bottle) to buy by the dozen than it is for an individual bottle.

Shipping prices for individual bottles have become crushingly expensive.

This recent discovery of mine was something my friend Chad found out about when he was shipping individual pies all over the country (and world).

That's why we ordered our recent pies by the (half-)dozen.

As for your hot sauce, think about pre-ordering for the upcoming saint days: Valentine's and Patrick's.

If your Valentine loves a sweet & spicy "everyday" hot sauce, Naturally Ordered Hot Sauce will be a great gift.

If your wannabe Irish friends can tolerate a little heat, it will add a bit of flavor to their fish & chips on St. Paddy's Day—and certainly a flourish to a hearty helping of shepherd's pie or cottage pie!

For what it's worth, our sauce is still manageable for your humble correspondent who doesn't tolerate much spice at all. Otherwise, I wouldn't be selling it.

The flavor was voted #1 in a blind taste test against 270 other hot sauces.

Now available—by the dozen—for a limited time in the Natural Order Podcast edition:

For the podcast itself: