When the Amish settled in Pennsylvania, they brought their love of pastries with them. Pies quickly became a mainstay of their diet which included the famous "shoofly" pie. "The desserts became part of our sustenance," Amish historian Abigail Marks said. "The women made pies for men when they went to work in the fields and pies when they came home."The pies were not limited to just an after dinner dessert. They became a convenient way to feed a lot of hungry mouths. "We used to eat pies at almost every meal," Marks said. "But that was back in the 1940s. I'm sure it goes way beyond that. There are numerous pies on the Amish menu, many of which have been forgotten."What is presented here is the "old-school" way of doing things in the Amish country. Not all recipes come from the modern health-conscious mindset. But if certain ingredients are replaced than something would be lost in the translation. What was important here is the creation of a good pie not a low fat dessert.