Bubby's Homemade Pies by Ron Silver and Jen Bervin (Wiley, $29.95, 9780764576348, August 2007).

When's the best time to try cooking something brand new? When company's coming over to your brand new house, of course. And don't make something simple, something easy. No, this is time for pie.

I grew up in the '80s in Southern California. When asked recently to make a pie as a sort of mother-daughter bonding thing, my mother was modern enough to reply, "Are you on crack?" And then, "We'll just go to the store and buy one." And so we did.

I own a house now in Oregon, with a sweet little mustard yellow oven that sits above the stove, which charms me to no end. So as our housewarming party approached, I thought I would make pies. The morning of the party, as I was preparing the dough, I grew concerned. I was thinking that in other states, there are pie-baking contests. Perhaps, just perhaps, I had gotten in over my head. But then I thought, when was the last time these people have actually eaten a homemade pie?

I felt very superior until our guests arrived and I told them that I had made pies and they started recollecting their mothers' pies. One told a story about winning a pie contest.

When I told our guests that these were my first pies, their faces fell a little. So I went to the kitchen and visited my pies. I had used the simple recipes from Bubby's Homemade Pies for the Mile High Apple Pie and for the Peach Vanilla Bean Pie. I inhaled deeply. They smelled very good. They looked very good.

As I stood in the kitchen, a friend came to help me. I repeated that I had never made a pie before--and that I was from Southern California! She put her hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, Melissa" she said, "You've crossed the border and something magical has happened. You can bake now."

It seemed like hocus pocus, but as I served my guests, as their forks cut into the golden crust, as chunks of tender apple, brown with sugar and spices, perfumed the air, my guests gave my very first pies good marks. They ate silently and nodded as they cleaned their plates. They came back for seconds. It was true--my friend was right!  Something magical had happened when I crossed the border. But I credit the cookbook.
 
I love Bubby's Homemade Pies because the pies are organized by season, with savory pies after sweet, then crumbles and crisps and finally ice cream and sauces. The recipes for the crusts are clear, with nice line drawn images for bakers who are still unsure when dry is too dry.

From Lobster Empanadas to Concord Grape Pie with Crème Fraiche, the broad selection of clear recipes alone is enough to recommend this book. But the main reason to run right out and buy this book is the Autumn Apple Crisp, quite possibly the best thing I've ever put in my mouth. Let me be more specific. I tasted a piece of apple after I'd assembled the crisp, but before I put it in the oven. There's nutmeg and clove and cinnamon, there's the tart, crisp apple and the sweet, rich crust. One bite is an explosion. It was a memorable bite. No, a revelatory bite. I wish I could live that first bite over and over again. Bubby's Homemade Pies--worth every penny of the cover price.--Melissa Lion