They say many hands make short work, and that is certainly true this time of year at Maplewood’s The Able Baker. Each year, the bakers turn out hundreds of delicious pies for Thanksgiving, including apple, pumpkin, buttermilk and more.
The bakery produces an incredible 500 pies for Thanksgiving. The apple pies alone require a whopping 1,000 apples (more or less; owner Julie Pauly admits after a while “we lost count”). That’s a lot of peeling. So Pauly has turned it into a festive “Apple Peeling Party:” local folks sign up for shifts that took place Sunday and Monday. 
Peelers are paid $9 an hour, but judging from the looks on many faces, they were in it less for the dough and more for the camaraderie.
It’s too late to order your holiday pie from Able Baker for this year, but last minute types looking for some grab-and-go desserts, fear not: the bakery will be open Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“We will have all of our usual favorites, but pies — if we have any — will go quickly,” said Pauly, who noted they will continue baking pies through Wednesday.
But there will be plenty of scones, coffee cake and banana bread, and cookies, brownies and cupcakes will be on hand!
