A pie business born out of the industrial-sized kitchen of a church now has a Plaza District shop where sweets junkies can enjoy treats together.

What started about three years ago as a catering company by two women who love to cook became Pie Junkie.

Owners Darcy Schein and Leslie Coale-Mossman had lines out the door their first night open at Live on the Plaza in May.

When the friends were running their small catering company out of St. Luke’s UnitedMethodistChurch, they were asked by a friend to make a dessert for S&B’s Burger Joint.

“We made one pie one day for their first store and as they grew we continued to grow with them,” Schein said.

That one peach pie blossomed into the hot mess — a signature pie for S&B’s. The pie is a butter cake with salted bourbon caramel topped with crispy bacon hot off the grill. Pie Junkie chefs also make signature pies for The Paramount (coffee-infused chocolate ganache with homemade marshmallow topping), Pizza 23 (Italian crème pie) and for Coffee Slingers.

“The pies kind of took over the catering and we decided to change our focus and provide pies, not only to several restaurants in the metro area, but also to retail customers,” Schein said.

Pie Junkie has more than two dozen varieties of pie, though not all are served each day. Favorites include; macadamia-crusted key lime pie and the drunk turtle which is a fudge pie in Graham cracker crust topped with pecans and salted caramel.

Some of the recipes came from Schein and Coale-Mossman’s families. Others are a product of inspirations from ingredients or combinations of flavors.

“We are very happy to be one of the first out there to offer this kind of product because it is very Oklahoma,” Schein said. “It’s comfort food. It’s something we’ve all grown up with.”

Barista Jacob West pulls a shot of espresso while crafting a latte at Elemental Coffee Roasters in Midtown OKC. Hillary McLain/NewsOK

Local products and a desire to educate are at the forethought of the owners of one Midtown coffee haven.

Midtown’s Elemental Coffee Roasters desires to raise coffee culture in the city in a friendly manner, co-owner Laura Massenat said.

They’re also excited about the potential for other new businesses and hope to encourage progress in the area.

“I feel like Elemental has become sort of an anchor of this block, certainly, and I hope that’s going to spur some development around us,” she said. “We definitely are here for community and to build community.”

The roaster and brewery is located at 815 N. Hudson Ave.  in Oklahoma City.

They began roasting beans for nationwide distribution in 2008, and added the coffee shop side in 2011. They brew coffee as well as espresso and offer drinks like lattes, cappuccinos and macchiatos.

Elemental’s community isn’t just restricted to the Midtown area; they offer goods from other local businesses all over the metro like T, an Urban Teahouse.

In addition to tangible goods, the Midtown business also hosts classes for brewing, espresso making and home bean roasting, Massenat said.

Beneath it all, the shop’s love is the community — from city council members to longboard hipsters, and Elemental wants to share their passion for the bean.

“No matter what you do, it’s about connecting with people … And we do it with coffee,” Massenat said.

A latte made by Jacob West, complete with foam art, at Elemental Coffee Roasters.

Elemental’s offerings include local goods from around the state:

• Tea from T, an Urban Teahouse
• Granola from Cuppies and Joe
• Yogurt from Wagon Creek Creamery
• Pastries from Waving Wheat Bakery

Ann Kesler works on a preliminary charcoal sketch in her painting class offered at the Woodson Park Senior Activity Center on June 4, 2013. Photo by Hannah Covington, The Oklahoman

Ann Kesler says sitting at home is a “death sentence.”

Kesler fights off the doldrums in the oil painting studio at the Woodson Park Senior Activity Center, located on S. May Ave. in Oklahoma City.

“We know that getting out is really good for your mind,” Kesler said, who comes four or five times per week with her husband, Larry, the mayor of Union City.

Union City, just south of El Reno, was one of the cities hit by the May 31 tornado.

“The community has been hit before,” Kesler said.  She photographed a tornado years ago and brought the picture to the Woodson Park center to paint a rendition of it.

Doug Paulsen runs the Activity Center and smiled as spoke of all of the different events that take place each day of the week.

“We try to get things interesting enough to keep these guys coming back,” Paulsen said. “I don’t know what the science is behind it but they are still alive, they look great.”

The painters’ work is collected for their annual fall show; this year’s Woodson Park Senior Art Exhibition will be the 14th annual show.

“That is a big day for us,” Ann said.

I just wanted to take a moment before my internship ended this afternoon to thank everyone at the Oklahoman for their guidance this summer during my internship.

The generosity and leadership displayed by the editors and staff here allowed me to further my skills. Over the last two months, I felt I was able to contribute in significant areas in the newsroom. I appreciate your time in answering all my (many) questions or taking time to mentor an intern.

A special thank yous to my fellow interns for all their kindness and generousity over the last two months. I worked with a lot of talented, amazing individuals. I sincerely wish you all the best of luck in whatever you decide to do in journalism or outside of it.

A huge thank you goes to my mentors Don Gammill and Richard Hall for always taking time even with deadlines or multiple projects to help guide, mentor and sharing any wisdom they had to offer for this intern.

Winston Churchill had this quote I feel sums up this phase of my young journalism career. “This isn’t the end. This isn’t even the beginning of the end. However, this is the end of the beginning.”

Thank you again for everything.

– Joey Stipek

Life lessons:

• Wherever I am in the world, there’s going to be someone kind enough to help me out.
• I can be miles and miles from home and actually survive.
• Singing in the car is a great stress reliever. Eric Church’s “Springsteen” was a summer favorite.

Journalism lessons:

• I’m leaving this summer with a more conversational style of writing.
• As a journalist, I might have to dig through someone’s trash to find the facts.
• The story isn’t in my notes, it’s in my head.
• Compassion is important in journalism.

Random facts:

• Blue-green algae is toxic, especially to children and animals.
• Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days for 911 calls.
• The scissor-tailed flycatcher is Oklahoma’s state bird.

This is only a taste of what I’ve learned. If I listed everything, I’d be writing forever. I’ve enjoyed my time in Oklahoma and at the paper. I’m excited about what my future holds. Soon, I’ll be “Back Home Again in Indiana.”

This puppy waving goodbye is essentially how I wish all goodbyes could be.

Let me start by apologizing for not posting nearly as much as I told myself I would. Once a week turned into about once a month. I know these goodbye posts are probably all going to be the same, unless I’m awkwardly the only one that posts one. So I want to make mine more of a thank you note to the Oklahoman and everyone here because I have more gratitude for them than I think they realize. So here we go:

Whenever I started high school, I had no idea journalism was something I wanted to pursue. I’m not going to complain and say I went to a poor and underprivileged high school, but I will say that the year I started high school, budget cuts were happening everywhere and one of its first victims was the school newspaper. So I never had that. I never got to have a moment where I wrote for a school paper, had a byline and realized my life calling.

But I did have Newsroom 101. During my sophomore year of high school someone gave me an application for Newsroom 101 and I thought it would be an interesting opportunity, so I filled out the application and sent it in to The Oklahoman the day it was due.

Being in Newsroom 101 opened my eyes to a world I never knew I was missing out on. For three years, I gave up sleeping in on Saturday mornings to drive out to The Oklahoman and be a part of Newsroom 101 and I loved every minute of it. I would not trade those Saturday mornings for anything. The Oklahoman made me fall in love with journalism.

I could talk up The Oklahoman until my face turns blue. I could go on and on about how invaluable Newsroom 101 has been to me and so many others. Aside from giving me great references and great mentors (Carrie, I owe so much to you and am so grateful that you gave up your Saturdays for us. It meant a lot to me.)

The Oklahoman’s impact on my life doesn’t end there. So let’s fast forward two years.

This was my first internship. For whatever reason, Joe took a chance on me. I hope he isn’t regretting it, because it’s a little late at this point.

For the past two months, I have had a fantastic time being an intern here. I got to talk to people and do things I would have never imagined. The amount of investment The Oklahoman puts into their interns really blows me away. This has been an unforgettable summer, and I owe about a thousand “thank you’s” to just about everyone here. The Oklahoman has felt like a home. It has been so welcoming, supportive and fun.

I fell in love with journalism all over again this summer, and I have The Oklahoman to thank for that.

Thank you!

— Conner Rohwer

P.S. I am really going to miss most of the interns. You guys were the icing on the cake.

• What are my intentions in writing this story?
• Am I emotionally invested in this story?
• If so, is it hindering my storytelling?
• How can I tell this story the most objectively?

One such instance was while working on a veterans and PTSD project with health reporter Jaclyn Cosgrove and fellow intern Darryl Golden. We took an entire work day to travel to James Crabtree Correctional Center in Helena, where we interviewed incarcerated veterans about their mental health and experiences returning home from war.

I’m not going to lie. I was a little apprehensive about visiting the prison. I knew it would be a great experience and would expand my comfort zone as a reporter, but being in a room with 50 inmates who had committed violent crimes put me a little on edge. After sitting through the center’s veterans club meeting, I easily saw that the veterans were ordinary people, but had made poor life choices. They had experienced the horrors of war, they felt sorry for the crimes they committed and they missed their families. By the end of our interviews, I had forgotten that we were talking to inmates at a prison.

My part of the project was to write a story about a flag afghan project the veterans club started in 2007. The veterans crochet flag afghans for other veterans and families of fallen service members. I wanted my story to embody the caring nature of the veterans, which I had experienced during my visit.  I had heard about their troubles and wanted to present their project in the best light possible. After I finished writing the story, I realized I never mentioned why the men were in prison. Without even thinking, I left out their charges. It was as if I was empathizing with the veterans. I saw that they were truly sorry for the crimes they committed and didn’t want the horrible nature of the crimes, many of them murder, to taint the story.

Eric Fowler, an inmate and member of the veteran's club at James Crabtree Correctional Center, holds up a gold star American flag afghan. -Photo by Darryl Golden

Here’s the final story:  James Crabtree Correctional Center incarcerated veterans honor other veterans and families of fallen service members

This summer, I’ve learned that sometimes as a reporter, I’m going to feel for sources, situations and issues. It’s my duty to find the middle ground. Compassion can exist in journalism.

Nicholas Kristof is a prime example of a journalist who shows compassion through his work. Read or listen to Krista Tippett’s interview with Kristof as he talks about compassion and journalism on Tippett’s show On Being.

I currently work for as the online communities intern in the social media hub on the 9th floor. Online communities pertains to the “know it” topics and their expansive library. If you’re unfamiliar with the “know its,” they pool together information, resources and articles published in The Oklahoma and on NewsOK into an online library.

These topics are developed as a joint multimedia project, using all of the OPUBCO newsgathering sources, from reporters to photographers, videographers, data research personnel and archivists, as well as from wire services, syndicates and other sources.

If you ever wanted to know more about any of the “know it” topics, ranging from addiction to mental health, cultural awareness to finance, recreation to Sam Bradford, there is a “know it” section created for each and every one of them.

But there also are the online communities. Edmond, Midwest City, Norman, Oklahoma City and Yukon serve as the hub of each community, which also includes surrounding towns and areas. Not only are there stories, photos and resource material compiled by Oklahoman and NewsOK staff members, but there are contributions from readers.

If you want to contribute information, praise or promote events in your area, you can do so by adding the following emails to your mailing list.

edmond@newsok.com — mid-del@newsok.com — norman@newsok.com — okc@newsok.com — yukon@newsok.com

Each community’s site has instructions on how to send in material. Just follow the directions.

Every morning, I come in armed with an AP Stylebook, cup of coffee and my own offbeat sense of humor as I sort through reader-submitted releases and news. I copy edit these releases and send them to Communities Editor Don Gammill or on occasion Metro Editor Kimberly Burk for the “News From You” page that runs each Saturday in The Oklahoman.

Occasionally, I will write about one of these topics featured in the “know it” library on our Know It blog and I’ll tweet out Don’s traffic column and “know it” related items on my personal twitter account.

What I love about journalism is investigative reporting, open records, entertainment writing and seeing language put to good use.

That’s “know its,” my internship and me. If you have questions, send me a note.

That company is called “Popcorn Indiana”. Today, Popcorn Indiana can be found in a variety of grocery and drug stores. The company is known for two things: its signature chocolate caramel gourmet popcorn and that legendary former NBA point-guard, former Knicks general manager — and anti-Sam Presti — Isiah Thomas owns a stake in the company.

Working in the heart of Times Square, you witness a lot of shenanigans on a day-in-day-out basis. If I shared a lot of these stories with NewsOK intern blog readers, you would never want to eat at any sort of quick-service food establishment again and I could possibly be sued for libel.

The only story I can share is that I was forced out of my office on my birthday by Barbara Walters’ assistant so the famous TV personality could change her outfit.

Barbara Walters’ father was having a street named for him on 48th and Broadway that day. I was in my office, talking to a co-worker about her stint working in the marketing department for Marvel Comics, when the door swung open. A woman with glasses exclaimed, “You need need to leave now!”

“Excuse me?” I said.

Then, in walked Walters.

A non-printable word followed by “It’s Barbara Walters!” fumbled out of my mouth to my co-worker in a state of shock over the absurdity taking place.

I was telling a few of these lurid tales to my fellow intern, Conner Rohwer, and my boss Communities Editor Don Gammill. Both of them in their own way suggested I write a blog about the things I learned in the restaurant industry in New York City, which apply to what I have learned in journalism.

Teamwork is essential. It takes more than one person to run a restaraunt and it takes more than one person to put together a newspaper.

You had better be willing to put in a lot of hard work, long hours and effort to get noticed. Both fields don’t necessarily pay a lot of money, so you need to be passionate about what you’re doing. It shows when you’re not.

Never sit around on your laurels. Always try to be pro-active or find work if you’re not busy.

Be tough on your own personal standards, but easy on people. Both industries are a people-driven.

Even when you’re driven from your own office.

Zola Jesus – In Your Nature (David Lynch Remix)

Zola Jesus is ordinarly not a fan of remixes, but when you have an opportunity to let director David Lynch reinterpret your work, how could one pass up the chance?

I enjoy this song, because it’s different than anything out there currently in pop music. It’s dark, forebodding and sultry all at the same time.