The Jolly Blog: Black Jack Meets Four and Twenty Blackbirds

Have you been to the place where pies go when they die? During one of his usual solo days, Black Jack found it. It's an insanely delicious pie shop called Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Obviously drawn to the name and his love for lyric, he found out some interesting details about this one-of-a-kind pie shop.

The name of the pie shop comes from an old nursery rhyme, Sing a Song of Sixpence. Owners/sisters, Emily and Melissa, thought this was a good name because it was nostalgic–like pie is. It's also kinda funny and weird because it talks about kings, queens, and noses being pecked off. "What would you do if you were enslaved in a pie?" Black Jack asked with heated sympathy, "Clearly, it was self defense."

Never to let a physical challenge go unchallenged, he made good use of the ceiling fan. "I'd give it a 3.7 as far as gauntlet exercises go," he drawled.

Interiors aren't his thing. Or so we thought. We were speechless when he went on about the Old English chic, vintage avian prints, and wood molding. But when he dropped "Martha would like the pussy willow," Yvette flew off screaming like a modern-day Chicken Little.

A couple locals filled him in on the pie-inspiration: the owners learned the fundamentals of pie-making from their grandmother, who baked pies for The Calico Kitchen (their mother's restaurant).

Before he ordered, Black Jack got lost in the kitchen. Supposedly, he was checking to make sure there weren't any more birds being "encrusted in pastry." Can you see him?

After he found a table, he ordered the Salty Carmel Apple. It's on par with the Salty Honey. He flew around it a bit and then dove in head first.

Did you know "chess pie" is a Southern word for "custard pie"?

Did you know that in medieval times, pie crust was only used as a baking vessel, not meant to be eaten?

Did you know the phrase "humble pie" comes from a type of pie that was made using "umbles" or innards of animals?

How did he like it? He calls it Belly-up Bliss.

On his way out, he asked the owners, Emily and Melissa, a curious question: "If you could give a piece of pie to anybody in the world, under any circumstance, who would it be?" "Our grandmothers," they said. "They were both avid bakers and they both passed before we opened our business. If we could teleport them our pie for approval that would be pretty awesome."