It's well documented that I am not a dessert man—a nibble of cake, a taste of gelato, I'm set. However, last July, I discovered The Peacemaker's pies. I took one forkful, which turned into two, then three, then there was no more pie. Not only did the flavor of the blackberry pie win me over, but the structure of it was like no pie I could remember having. It didn't crumble apart into a mush of fruit and crust - it stayed together like a wobbly, fruit filled cake. This uncharacteristic loss of control and urge to eat more pie left me confused. Had I become...pie-curious?

When I saw Dabble St. Louis had arranged a class with Sidney Street Cafe and The Peacemaker's Pastry Chef, Bob Zugmaier, I signed up right away. Not only was it a hands on class (I have no interest in a demo-only class - that's what Cooking Channel and YouTube are for), but everyone got to bring a pie home at the end.

At 6pm on a Monday night, the 12 class members walked through the hallowed grounds that are Sidney Street's kitchens, and the pie making commenced.

This was the first hands on cooking class I'd been to and I thought Bob knocked it out of the park. He explained everything well, answered everyone's questions in detail, let me hover behind him with a camera, and even let us play with his industrial food processor.

Photos from the class are below, as well as the Bob's Blueberry Ginger Pie recipe. The best news is he'll be teaching another class on Tuesday, June 30th - rumor has it he'll be making peach pie.