Novel way to shut your pie hole

I'm sure you've all heard the expression, "Shut yer pie hole!" at least once or twice (meaning, shut your mouth). Well, lemme tell ya all about a really nifty little thing I recently discovered for shutting a real pie hole.

This, if you couldn't tell already by the tag tied with a cute little red slip of a ribbon around its neck, is a pie bird. And this little pie bird is for baking pies. It's actually a vent for pie crust. I was reading my recent issue of Living (yes, I have to admit as much as I really am not fond of Martha Stewart after her jail stint, I do really enjoy her magazine) and came across a fun article about pie birds.

I was surprised to learn there are such things as pie birds, and they've actually been in existence since the 1700s. Pie birds are used to vent pies without letting any of the gooey pie filling goodness bubble out and away.

You see, the bottom of the pie bird is cut out or empty, so when you place it on your pie, the steam goes up and up inside...

...and then the steam comes out the top of the little pie birds' beak just as cute as you please.

This week I happened to visit Cook's Emporium, a cool kitchen gadgetry store on Main Street in my fun town, and just as I was walking towards the door to go out, I spied a shelf with pie birds sitting in a row, waiting to be adopted into good homes. I couldn't resist. I just had to have one. So this one came home with me.

That night I could barely contain my excitement as I carefully unwrapped it to show my husband. He looked at it, then up at me, then back to the adorable little pie bird, and finally asked me, "What is it?" But I think he really meant, "What'd ya get this time?" I drug out the magazine, thumbed through the pages and pointed to the article held just below his nose. Realizing he couldn't read with it that close, I let him hold it. He glanced through the article, paused on the photo, and said, "Cool." While he might not have been quite as excited about our new pie bird as I am/was, I really don't think he'll complain when I practice making pies in the near future. Something about cherry pie seems to bring out his really sweet side and then he gets even more irresistible.

So for now our little pie bird is sitting on the shelf above the sink proudly awaiting his first venture into pie making. Secretly, I'm hoping to find a companion or two for him as one seems mighty lonely and just look how lively the photo from the magazine looks filled to the brim with pie birds. The hunt is on!