Pineapple Pie -- The Slice I Bought for a Stranger at a Truck Stop in Cheyenne

Fourth of July. Monday this year. The kids had their friends over — Amber had Madelyn and two other girls; Tyler had his friend Cole, who is the quiet shop-class boy he has become close with; Justin had three teammates who ate the entire contents of our meat drawer; Josie had four friends who played a game that involved the sprinkler and a beach ball and a scoring system nobody understood but which produced much screaming. Dave grilled. I made a flag cake. We set off legal fireworks in the driveway and watched the neighbors' bigger illegal ones over the fence. Biscuit spent the evening in the bathtub for reasons of his own. Ordinary Nebraska Fourth. I loved every minute.

Drove a Denver run Wednesday through Friday. Long pull. Hotel in Cheyenne. I had dinner Wednesday night in a truck stop restaurant with a driver I met in the parking lot named Doris Meeks, 62, from Wyoming, who had bought my book two months ago and recognized me from the author photo. She had brought it with her on her rig. She pulled it out and set it on the table between our coffee mugs. We talked for two hours. She told me about her husband, dead four years. She told me about a daughter she has not seen in seven years. She told me about a Christmas in 1997 when she hauled a load of live turkeys through a blizzard. I listened mostly. I bought her pie. We hugged in the parking lot. She said, "Thank you for the book." I said, "Thank you for the company." She drove off at dawn. I drove to Denver at 7. The world is not that big. Not anymore.

Came home Friday. Sat on the back porch Saturday morning and wrote. Real writing, for the second book. I have settled on what it will be: a book about women on the road. Women truckers. Their stories. Their food. Their lives. Sarah said, "Brenda. That is the right second book." I said, "I know." I am going to interview women like Carla and Doris. I am going to spend two years on it. I am going to write slow. This time I know what the book is before I start, which is a different writing than the first one. The first one I wrote to find out what it was. The second one I know.

Amber moves to UNK in eight weeks. Eight weeks. I am counting. I do not want to be counting. I am counting.

When I bought Doris her pie that night in Cheyenne, I didn’t think much about what kind it was — only that it was there, and she deserved a good slice, and the coffee was already between us. Coming home, though, I kept thinking about it: sweet and cold and unexpectedly comforting, the kind of thing a truck stop does right. I’ve been making this Pineapple Pie ever since — once for the flag-cake crowd on the Fourth, once just for myself on the back porch. It tastes like the world being smaller than you thought, in the best possible way.

Pineapple Pie

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes + 2 hours chilling | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust (9-inch)
• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple, drained well
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed (plus more for serving)
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Drain the pineapple. Press the crushed pineapple through a fine mesh strainer or squeeze it in a clean kitchen towel to remove as much liquid as possible. Set aside.
2. Beat the cream cheese. In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Add the condensed milk. Pour in the sweetened condensed milk and beat on medium until fully combined and creamy, about 1 minute.
4. Mix in lemon juice and vanilla. Add the lemon juice, vanilla extract, and pinch of salt. Beat another 30 seconds. The mixture will begin to thicken slightly from the acid in the lemon juice.
5. Fold in pineapple and whipped topping. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the drained crushed pineapple and thawed whipped topping until just combined — don’t overmix.
6. Fill the crust. Pour the filling into the graham cracker crust and smooth the top evenly with the spatula.
7. Chill. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until the filling is fully set. Overnight is even better.
8. Serve. Slice and top each piece with an extra dollop of whipped topping. Serve cold.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 390 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Carbs: 54g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 240mg