![\"TastyPies,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chrisbaer.net\/mp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/tastypies.jpg?resize=635%2C459\" "\\"TastyPies,")
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Eight days. That’s all time you have to consume a TastyPie once it leaves the warm confines of the Philadelphia-based Tasty Baking Company’s<\/a> ovens.<\/p>\n Oh, sure, it’s still edible thereafter, but we’re talking about a fresh product here whose flavor profile changes as time takes its ravaging toll. It may be packaged to travel and sit on a shelf, but Philadelphia expats will tell you that the TastyPie they find on some drug store shelf three hundred miles from the bakery just isn’t the same as a TastyPie bought from a South Philly deli minutes after the distributor’s truck has rolled away.<\/p>\n Living a good two to three hours from Philadelphia, I try to stock up on TastyPies whenever I’m up there, drawing knowing stares from other travelers in 30th Street Station when I purchase ten at a time prior to catching a Northeast Regional<\/a> home. Or, if I’ve bought the last Blueberry, cutting stares that threaten bodily harm.<\/p>\n What inspires this devotion, this hoarding instinct in otherwise rational adults? Just look at the packaging itself. No hiding of the pastry behind a wrapper with an idealized illustration—there it is, preening behind cellophane, cracks and flakes and all. Love me as I am, it cries.<\/p>\n TastyKake claims to make a quarter-million TastyPies a day<\/a>, but they don’t look stamped out, like some widget on a press. TastyPies have character. Oh, I labor under no delusions about their nutritional upside, or lack thereof—health food this ain’t. But the shortening-rich flakiness of the crust, which often shows hints of delicious browning (and sometimes even charring) from the oven melds perfectly with whatever filling you’ve chosen. And the fillings!<\/p>\n Lemon, Apple, French Apple, Cherry, Blueberry, Tasty-Klaire, Coconut Creme, Peach! Plus seasonals like Pumpkin Pie, Strawberry, and Cheesecake. Collect them all!<\/p>\n Even deciding what order to eat them in poses a delightful challenge. Start with a creme filling, then move to a fruit, or vice versa? All fruit then creme fillings? Frosted tops then plain?<\/p>\n Getting them closer to home has become less problematic thanks to the recent proliferation of Wawa<\/a>‘s beyond their traditional Delaware Valley roots. For some reason, the TastyPies there always seem fresh, unlike some other outlets in the Metro DC region.<\/p>\n Or, of course, you could order them direct from TastyKake<\/a>, though you pay a bit of a premium (about two and a quarter per pie) plus shipping. Worth it (if you plump for expedited shipping) for those far-flung TastyPie aficionados, I’m sure.<\/p>\n If you’ve never had a TastyPie, grab one the next time you see one. Just check the expiration date first. You can thank me later.<\/p>\n And for the record, I’m a Coconut Creme and Lemon man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Eight days. That’s all time you have to consume a TastyPie once it leaves the warm confines of the Philadelphia-based Tasty Baking Company’s ovens. Oh, sure, it’s still edible thereafter, but we’re talking about a fresh product here whose flavor profile changes as time takes its ravaging toll. It may be packaged to travel and … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[19,78],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","tag-philadelphia","tag-tastykake"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pedXm-1l","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrisbaer.net\/mp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrisbaer.net\/mp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrisbaer.net\/mp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisbaer.net\/mp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisbaer.net\/mp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chrisbaer.net\/mp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2393,"href":"https:\/\/chrisbaer.net\/mp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions\/2393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrisbaer.net\/mp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisbaer.net\/mp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisbaer.net\/mp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nAnd once you get your stockpile, you have to eat them before they pass their peak of freshness. Difficult task, I know, but someone has to do it, and you’re almost certain to get volunteers to help.<\/p>\n