Whoever came up with the phrase “It’s as easy as pie” has clearly never baked a pie before; pie, despite what the expression may claim, is incredibly complicated to make.

I am not sure why, but I have always struggled to assemble pie. I have tried too many times to count to create one where nothing goes wrong, but there are simply a million components to making pie that, for some odd reason, I can’t quite seem to master.

I remember one of the first times I had ever tried making pie: I watched as the apple that had been sitting patiently on the cutting board suddenly flung into the air toward the other side of the room as I had tried slicing it—something that, even to this day, I’m not totally sure how I accomplished. 

 On that same day, my mom ended up taking away the knife that I was using to peel the apple’s skin and replacing it with a potato peeler, only for her to very quickly decide that the knife was safer for me to use.

I am also reminded of the moment when I had to figure out how to put together the crust, and rather than it coming altogether as a perfectly crafted pie, I had been left with a mess of dough all over my counters and floors—the exact opposite of what many people would consider a beautiful mess.

To say that baking pie is not my forte would be more than an understatement; really, it would be a lie. 

Even so, despite all my mistakes in my attempts to make a pie, I absolutely adore doing it.

It would seem like there would be everything to hate about the process of having to assemble and bake it, but I think that, at the same time, there is everything to love about the process.

I love the way it smells as it bakes. The smell of cinnamon and sweetness permeates into the air and finds its way to every corner of the house. If I had to say, it would have to be one of my favorite smells. It is a smell that brings the footsteps of curious people wondering what could be cooking in the next room over. It is a smell that brings people together.

I love the way it tastes at the end. Even though it is a seemingly obvious thing to appreciate, seeing as having the pie taste good is the end goal of it all, it still doesn’t make me love it any less. With each slice, I get a sense of accomplishment: it’s knowing that this was something that I was able to make even if I did make one too many mistakes along the way.

I love the memories that I have come associated with it: Thanksgiving desserts with my family, random drives to McDonald’s with my friends, and baked pies just because. I have come to love everything about pie.

Although I don’t think that the person who came up with the saying “It’s as easy as pie” has ever actually made a pie, the complicated nature of it all makes me love baking it all the more.