pie ,” Julie said . “ It ’ s hard to make it work .”
But her mother was only part of Julie ’ s influence , she said , because her husband Wayne ’ s mom said , “ everything is on how a pie looks .”
“ That ’ s because you eat with your eyes ,” Julie said , “ so Wayne ’ s mom taught me how to decorate pies and pie crust , and my mom instilled in me the art of trying different things .”
Julie , who may have some different fillings than the traditional styled ones , took on the Arizona State Fair with Wayne ’ s mom , where the duo won second place .
“ That was kind of the start of my pie journey in a way ,” Julie said .
Since then , apple pie became a staple for Thanksgiving , mincemeat pie for Christmas and a cherry pie for Easter .
“ But none of them was a cream pie ,” Julie said . In Stephens County , this is what Julie McKinney is most known for — and her recipe , we ’ re told , doesn ’ t disappoint one bit . In fact , some of her chocolate cream pies have auctioned off at fundraisers for between $ 1,600 to $ 2,000 .
The legendary McKinney cream pie came after a request from son Matt , who is now a Lawton firefighter . Perfecting the cream pie took a lot of experimenting , however .
Eventually , Julie said she went to a restaurant in St . Louis .
“ They had these beautiful mile high cream pies ,” she said , “ and I got a little insight how to do
JULIE MCKINNEY STANDS WITH A FRESHLY BAKED PECAN PIE . THIS IS ONE OF HER FAVORITES .
that . So I learned how to make it , cream pie .”
Her other son , John , who lives in New Jersey now , then requested to learn the craft .
“ John decided that he liked to make pies too and he started making pies ,” Julie said . “ My grandmother and my granddaughter made pies . She made pies the way I used to make them and I taught her the one finger technique and now she makes pies for Thanksgiving and for relatives , for the church and all kinds of stuff . So it ’ s kind of a generational thing that we have with our pies .”
She ’ s taking the teaching outside of the family home and throughout Stephens County now . That includes teaching a class with the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center on the art of pie and getting involved with the local 4-H program .
“ They were so interested in learning how to make a pie ,”
Julie said . “ We talked about different ways of doing things and then they started putting their own spin on some of the pies that we made . We actually went through how to make a pie — the entire pie , even the crust — and everything all the way through to them making a pie and it was just fascinating to see them trying to roll stuff out and put the pie crust into the pie pan . It was just neat and I was so proud … It ’ s a lost art .”
Julie , who ’ s favorite pie is a toss up between the chocolate cream pie and pecan pie , has taken home many awards from her pie in Stephens County . This includes at the Stephens County Free Fair where she ’ s taken Best Pie and Best of Show numerous times and placings at the Oklahoma State Fair .
But it ’ s about more than competition and awards , Julie said . It ’ s about the bond built while baking .
“ My granddaughter , around 10 or 12 — she ’ s 22 now — she learned the crust first and then she just grabbed it and ran with it ,” Julie said . “ Her specialty is cherry pie . I ’ m so proud of her for doing that and passing the learning curve . It ’ s a difficult task to make that . It takes a while to perfect — and she did .
“ Passing this on to the next generation , to me , is the best in the world ,” Julie said . “ Passing it on — whatever it may be — and seeing it grow on its own is the neatest thing the whole world . Sometimes we miss the family piece of this whole thing .” DM
DUNCAN MAGAZINE | WINTER 2022 25