Good to Go: A Life-Changing Pie Experience Makes the Calories Worth It, and That’s No Humble Brag

I've been pretty darn healthy during this pandemic — at least in the way of eating pretty well, seriously monitoring portions and working out an average of twice a day.

But last week, my body got tired. And after moving myself to a new apartment and not yet having a refrigerator there, my soul grew weak and I wanted just one thing.

Pie.

I make great pie; but I had no ingredients in my place, Lord knew where the pie pan was and I wanted pie now, not in a few hours. But I did know I was just a mere 13 minutes from Humble.

I had actually never been — last year at a political event at White Rock Lake, one of my mentors mentioned she was going to run across Garland Road and get some of the best pie in town. I made a mental note and didn't get there until last week, but I'm so glad I finally did.

You can go online to see what it has available, and what sounds more comforting than a cream pie? My thought was: A pie that has a few cream options.

So I went for a slice of the Bayou Goo ($6; $30 for a whole pie) where the layers go like this:
1. Rich, sweet cream cheese filled with candied pecans
2. Chocolate cream
3. Chantilly cream
4. Chocolate shavings and more candied pecans

How could anyone (who's not allergic to nuts) go for pie that's just chocolate cream? Though even if you do, the bit in this layer says that's probably a solid decision anyway.

This slice of pie, making my caloric intake higher than any other day in the last two months, was worth everything to me. It made my stressful day better and somehow made the sun shine a bit brighter.

And apparently, some others feel that way, too. Owner Erin Jett says business has stayed steady enough to keep everyone on staff.

“We were able to pretty quickly morph more into the kind of the takeout world; we had a pretty brisk takeout business before, but now that that's the only option, we didn't want to see sales kind of go down,” she says.

So the previous, occasional quiche or pot pie has become more regular.

“We had to be the one-stop shop so people could get dinner and dessert at the same time, because people are wanting to limit their exposure out in the world,” she says. “A lot of people now know they can eat their entire meal out of a pie shell. It just does my little heart good.”

There's curbside, too. So you can call ahead, purchase over the phone with a credit card (and tip then, too), call them when you've pulled up and have them place the box of precious goods in your backseat through a rolled-down window.

“We saw, pretty quickly on, that people would rather do curbside and delivery. We've never had delivery before; we don't use the delivery services, but we've been able to keep all of our staff up and running by doing some limited delivery around the lake,” Jett says.

Humble also is marking two years of business in its storefront amid all of this.

“The fact that we're celebrating is enough,” she says.

One thing that has changed are the hours: The shop was previously open until 11 p.m. You know the time: You've been out to dinner and don't want to go home quite yet, and a slice of pie sounds like the perfect end to the night.

“They would sit for hours. The pie shop would be literally packed late at night, it's like standing-room only, people enjoying one another, coffee and pie and being able to spend more time with friends and family,” Jett says. “We sure do miss that. It's a great energy to have.”

And since a packed dining space sounds terrifying right now, people are getting their pie other ways.

“We have gone through, surprisingly, the cream pies: our coconut cream, chocolate cream, our bayou goo, we can't keep them in stock. We constantly make those three varieties. I think it's the creaminess and the deliciousness of it that just lends this feeling of comfort in these crazy days.”

Ah, so I'm not the only one.

Humble, 9014 Garland Road (White Rock). 214-458-9039.