As I wander through town, I see gorgeous examples of perfectly tall, sturdy crusts all around the Valley. I knew when I embarked on this pie-centric project, there would be lessons to implement into my own baking practices. I spent weeks making pie. I made galettes, pie-crumble hybrids, puff pastry savory pies and attempted my first lattice-topped pie. I also made my first double-crust pie, from the apple pie recipe printed on the bottom of a vintage ceramic pie plate, a gift from my late mother-in-law.

I asked the Edible Community for tips and best practices along with a deep dive into pie baking guides: The Book on Pie and The Baking Bible, amongst a library of others. Indeed, there were lessons to learn—and as we look toward the seasonal break in temperature that launches pie-making season, I sheepishly share what many of you already knew.

My four lessons are these:

For the pie crust, keep your ingredients cold and use your refrigerator as much as possible.

The more you bake, the more confident your hands become.

There are nuances between glass, ceramic and metal pie plates, but they are for more advanced bakers than me to explain.

And, if you end up with a crack in your galette and it bleeds out, or if what started out as a lovely, crimped crust turns into a rendition of Salvador Dalí’s Persistence of Memory, no one is going to care or even remember. What they will remember is that you took the time to bake something and share it, which is really the most important lesson of all.