Pie in the sky

Chicken pot pie was so close to heaven for actor Daron Stiles, he’d have chosen it over church any day of the week and twice on Sunday. If only his parents had agreed. His devotion is chronicled in Meanwhile Back At The Café Du Monde, Peggy Sweeney-McDonald’s new book featuring local foodies and celebrities paying tribute to their favorite dishes.

Ah, chicken pot pie.

“These icons of frozen culinary bliss had to be baked in the oven for a full 40 minutes,” Stiles recalls. One night, at age 6, Stiles fell asleep during the family prayer of thanks before eating. Later, as his parents rolled him into bed—without any supper, since he’d snoozed through it—Stiles prayed aloud, half asleep but awake to what really mattered to him: “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should wake before I die, help me to eat my chicken pie.”

Amen. Click here for the recipe that made Stiles dream of pie.—Amy Alexander