In the spring of 2009, Laurie, a former deputy sheriff, and Kristin, a former banker, opened the Centerville Pie Company in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. These pie lovers baked their sweet and savory offerings at home before moving the operation to a small, 18-seat bakeshop. "You can't beat a pie," Laurie says. "It's a good thing. It makes a lot of people happy."

After setting up shop, Laurie and Kristin began making a steady stream of new customers happy with slices of everything from chicken to pecan pie. Then, in August 2009, an unexpected out-of-town visitor put their bakeshop on the map. 

Oprah and her best friend, Gayle King, were in town attending Eunice Kennedy Shriver's funeral, and Kristin set out to give them some comfort in the form of a chicken pie. So she boxed one up and drove it over to Oprah's hotel.

Although security normally doesn't let Oprah accept edible gifts, Gayle convinced them to make an exception. Good thing they did...the pies were a hit! However, when a reporter from the Cape Cod Times called Harpo Studios to confirm that Oprah had tried Centerville Pie Company's chicken pie, the corporate office denied the claim. Thus, the scandal Oprah affectionately calls "pie-gate" began.

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