Sisters' fried pies retain Mamaw's touch
Growing business merits move to local storefront
BY SUZANNE LOUDAMY Staff writer

Photo/Suzanne Loudamy Nell Hoce and twin sister Sandra Harvell man the counter at Mamaw's Fried Pies in Whitehouse.

Nothing says home like the squeak and slam of an old screen door.

Walk up to the screen door at Mamaw's Fried Pies and smell the goodies on to cook, and, depending on your age, the fragrance will probably take you back to grandmother's kitchen.

It was at their mother's side that twin sisters Nell Hoce and Sandra Harvell learned the secret to a great fried pie.

"You can have the best filling in the world," Hoce said, "but if the crust is not good, the whole pie is no good."

These sisters, raised in Adger, Ala., moved to the Houston area in 1961 and to Whitehouse in the early 1980s.

"We are proud to be in Whitehouse," the sisters said. "We want our fried pies to continue to be a success in what we call our hometown."

The sisters' success began a little over a year ago, when they began making fried pies in their homes.

Their recognizable red concession wagon is quite at home in places like Canton, the East Texas State Fair, the Blueberry Festival in Nacogdoches and many others. Not only were they the talk of the fairs, but they were overwhelmed with big orders outside of the festival venue.

Mamaw's Fried Pies storefront came to be when the sisters needed a commercial kitchen area to meet their demand.

"We needed a place to operate a commercial type kitchen and handle the quantity," Harvell said. "We never thought we'd be making 300 pies a day."

The location at 113 Hwy. 110 North has been a winner for them.

Offering fried pies, breakfast pies, pigs in a blanket and meat pies, the shop is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

The sisters first contributed to their mother's fried pies when, as youngsters, they would pick the fruit that their mom used for her fried pie fillings.

While their own fillings may not come straight from the tree to the kitchen, each and every pie is hand-made with that flaky crust making every bite better than the last.

And to keep a bit on the more healthy side, the pies are fried in zero trans-fat.

Mamaw watches over the whole operation from a photo lovingly placed there by her daughters.

Talk about aroma therapy…just one whiff of those hand-made pies and life slows down just a bit and you can't help but smile.