By Blair Moore
No Thanksgiving feast is complete without pie. Pumpkin or pecan, chocolate or chess—there simply must be pie.
This year, some Thanksgiving bakers will be serving their homemade pies in handmade pie plates that they created at Trussville’s Wildgoose Garden + Pottery.
Guests gathered at the shop located inside Amari Curb Market on October 20 for a dinner, drinks, and pottery instruction from Lauren Scott and Josh Miller.
“It’s amazing to watch what happens when people allow themselves to believe, even for a second, that they are creative—because there is creativity in all of us,” said Scott, who opened Wildgoose Garden with her mother in 2021. Shortly after, Scott met Miller at a pottery studio. The two instantly connected over their interest in the artform, and a strong friendship blossomed.
Now, they teach ongoing and seasonally themed monthly classes together.
Miller, who is Senior Food Editor at Southern Living, enjoys preparing dishes for class attendees.
“For this event, I made gluten-free pastry, which I used to make a savory galette—a rustic, open- faced pie—with a base of Parmesan and aged cheddar, topped with butternut squash, mushrooms, kale, and red onion,” said Miller.
Miller paired the pastry with a salad of shaved fennel, shredded Brussels sprouts, pickled onions, kale, and spicy toasted pecans. He tossed it with a simple lemon vinaigrette and topped it with a salad crunch of butter-toasted gluten-free panko and parmesan.
After dinner, each guest received a slab of clay to work and shape into a large flat circle. Potters patterned their clay with tools such as rollers and a variety of vintage lace doilies. Pieces became increasingly unique.
Instructors encouraged the class to embrace imperfections in their pieces as part of their beauty. “If you want a perfect pie plate, go to Pottery Barn,” Miller laughed. One reason Miller is drawn to pottery is that clay is a forgiving medium. “If you mess up, you can wad up the clay and start again,” he said. “Sometimes the ‘mess ups’ turn into my favorite creations.”
Scott loves seeing students experience how cathartic learning pottery can be. “It teaches you to be okay that things don’t always turn out the way you want,” she said. “It’s a process of learning to let go and embrace the beauty that comes.”
Scott and Miller helped everyone gently flip their patterned clay onto pie forms and demonstrated how to flute the edges using ping pong balls as a finishing touch.
Then it was time for dessert. Miller tweaked the same dough to make a sweet galette which he topped with a cream cheese filling along with thinly sliced apples and sprinkled with chai-spiced sugar and buttered pecans. “To finish, I drizzled each slice with apple cider caramel, and served it with ice cream, of course,” Miller said.
Julie Meads has attended several creative classes around the Birmingham area. “I loved the atmosphere and meeting new people,” she said of this event. “The bonus was making a new pie plate!” Meads said that she has already signed up for more classes at Wildgoose Garden.
All guests will return to the shop in November to pick up their fired pie plates just in time for Thanksgiving.
All that’s left to do is decide what type of pie to bake this year.
To find out about future classes, visit wildgoosegarden.com or follow on Instagram and Facebook.