e a s t c o u n t y l e a d e r
november 2013
6
Harold Fuller is a pretty popular guy
during the holidays and at summer pic-
nics — he brings pie.
But the 82-year old Gresham resident
and cleric smiles when he says his spe-
cialty is Marionberry.
“I’m a pastor. Get it?” he laughs.
Quirky joke aside, Fuller is a man of
the cloth and an iconic local pastry wiz.
Mention peach pie to sta at Legacy
Mount Hood Medical Center, where Full-
er served as Chaplain for 35 years, and
folks wonder if he’s on campus with a pie
plate in his hands.
A so -spoken man, with an easy
smile, Fuller has been feeding ocks of
people, both spiritually and with slices
of pie, for nearly 50 years. He retired two
years ago, but continues to draw a crowd
whenever and wherever he’s asked to
demonstrate his pie-making prowess.
Originally from Illinois, Fuller ar-
rived in Oregon in 1956 to nish his
seminary studies. He lived in a boarding
house of sorts, with a group of students
who shared kitchen privileges in the base-
ment. Fuller took on the cooking duties
because he “didn’t like the clean up part.”
Fuller credits his mother as the foun-
dation of his culinary skills and the gi of
her pie crust recipe, which he still uses.
“I’ve always cooked,” he said, “but
I didn’t do much baking until I was in
college. My mom was a good cook and I
learned by observing her.”
Any baker will tell you pie crusts are
a tricky art to master. Achieving pliable
dough that comes out aky a er baking,
has been the bane of many pie-baker-
wanna-bes.
But Fuller makes it look easy. He as-
sembles all his ingredients before he be-
gins and rarely looks at his recipe any-
more. He uses a hand-held pastry blender
to combine our and shortening, quickly
producing the perfect pie crust founda-
tion — pea-sized pieces.
“ e trick is warming the measuring
cup before measuring the shortening,” he
said. “It comes out of the cup easier.”
Fuller uses only fresh fruit in his pies,
o en picking local seasonal fruits. He is
well known for his peach pie, which he
admits is also his personal preference, but
berry and apple pies are always big favor-
ites among those lucky enough to receive
a pie from the “Pie Man.”
Fuller also likes to experiment, per-
fecting his cra so to speak, to streamline
his process or improve his end result. Tri-
al and error has taught him which apples
make the best pies, but he devised his
own method for pre-cooking some variet-
ies that remain too crunchy a er baking.
“I like Gravenstein, Gala and Fuji
apples,” he said. “ ey make the best pies.
Granny Smith are good too, but I cook
FOOD
Fifty years of a sweet ministry
S t o r y b y A n n e E n d i c o t t
434858 ECL1113
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Harold Fuller assembles all his supplies and ingredients nearby, before he begins baking.
His No Fail Pie Crust recipe yields two double-crusted pies.
OUTLOOK PHOTO: JIM CLARK
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