Growing Your Pie

“I try to put ingredients and flavors together in new combinations.”  Earl Poon

Growing Your Pie

Earl stood on a spacious wooden deck looking out over a seemingly endless forest as the sun was getting in position to dip below the Ozark Mountains.  He was casually dressed in cargo shorts, a tee-shirt and flip flops.  A surprising view, based on his buttoned-up background as a ranking supply manager in the U.S. Airforce.  Yet, his attire was not the most surprising thing to discover about him while sharing the breathtaking view.

“He’s a baker!” Is the way Robin, his wife, describes her husband.

Earl, the founder of Earl’s Uncommon Pies, is indeed a baker.  But such a commonplace, shortened description falls short of what he really does and who he is.  Magic!  That’s a better, more complete portrayal.  After all, he produces a couple of different kinds of magic.  One a pastry and the other is anthropological.  You’ve heard the saying about being able to make the world more prosperous by “growing the pie,” so more and more people can enjoy the benefits?  That’s what Earl does.  And, this is how he bakes in, what can only be described as, the remarkable.

“I try to put ingredients and flavors together in new combinations.”  He says.  “I could make the more common pies.  You know, like apple or cherry?  But, I work to discover how to combine such common ingredients in an uncommon way.”

When he finds the right combination, he knows it!  “When my taste buds start singing and dancing, I know it’s right.”  He says, as if hiding his genius behind twinkling eyes.  “When people taste my work, they often say they can’t believe they’ve never seen these ingredients used together before!”

Earl says there are times when he looks at a common ingredient and wonders why he hasn’t seen its true potential before; because he’s so familiar with it.  “Maybe it’s because I’ve viewed it in one dimension for so long that I’ve become blind to its true beauty?”  He asks, rhetorically.  “I’ve come to believe in the principle of ‘Dimension Supplementation!’”

Dimension Supplementation means seeing something not only for what it appears to be, for its obvious use.  It means asking, “If I pair this with something else, what can it become?”  Earl elucidates.  That can only happen through careful examination, often combined with trial and error.  Finding additional uses, in addition to what is obvious, is what Earl calls, “allowing the commonplace to Blossom.”  Another, less used, meaning of blossom is growth.

“What I really do is grow pie!”  Earl says.  “My recipe for ‘creating the uncommon,’ grows both the taste and varieties of a specific kind of pastry, the pie.  And, interestingly, these same principles can be applied to both makers of pies, as well as those who eat them.

Anyone can look at the elements composing their life and ask Earl’s important questions to facilitate forging a path toward combing them into the creation an uncommonly good life.  First, what are the common, abundant parts of my life?  Second, how can I combine these components together in an innovative, uniquely “me” way?  Third, if I examine these parts, of my life, can I discover distinctive combinations to make the commonplace blossom into something unexpected and greater than it was singularly?  These steps are Earl’s winning recipe for baking, growing bigger, more scrumptious pies and as well as a magical life.

Magic!  Earl, the enchanted baker, produces two kinds of magic.  You’ve heard the saying about being able to make the world more prosperous by ‘growing the pie,’ so more and more people can benefit?  That’s what Earl does.  And, this is the recipe he follows to creates such magical, remarkable pies as well as a extraordinary lives.