In conversation with Maya Feller, moderated by Kathleen Sanderson.
3:30 – 4:30 at Morristown & Morris Township Library
About the author
Stacey Mei Yan Fong is a home baker living in Brooklyn, New York. She was born in Singapore, lived in Indonesia, grew up in Hong Kong, and moved to the U.S. to pursue a degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She spent a decade designing in the fashion industry, and during that time she launched her 50 Pies, 50 States project which led to her slinging pies at Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Shop. Her pies have been featured by CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, Eater, and more. Fong was approved for permanent residency in 2017 and finished her final pie for the project in 2022.
MFOB featured book: 50 Pies, 50 States
There’s nothing quite so American as a slice of pie. That’s what Stacey Mei Yan Fong learned watching movies set in the U.S. and dreaming about taking a road trip from coast to coast, stopping at diners along the way. She turned her passion for home baking into an ode to her chosen home: honoring the people, places, and flavors that made her love this country with a pie for each state.
Each pie is an impressive, whimsical tribute encapsulating a state’s unique flavors and culture. For South Dakota, Fong researched Indigenous ingredients with a Sioux nation chef to create Wild Rice Pudding Pie. For Illinois, she created Deep Dish Pumpkin Pie. And there are plenty of crowd pleasers, such as Georgia’s Sweet Tea Peach Pie with Pecan Crumble and North Dakota’s Tater Tot Hot Dish Pie. Bonus pies honor Fong’s trajectory from Southeast Asia to Brooklyn, including Pandan Custard Pie for Singapore and Bagel Order Pie for New York City.
Organized like the all-American road trip, 50 Pies, 50 States is a journey through the wonders of pie for bakers of all skill levels, and the story of one extraordinary woman who chose to make this place her home.
