BigJeff, an article in today's NYTimes contained this line --

"If you put a pie on a table, it always seem to take you back to a time in your life."

Just like you said in your post.

Anyway this is actually an interesting article, I didn't know that Americans didn't use forks until the mid-19th century.

"Before the mid-19th century, most Americans did not have forks, so the ability to pick up pie with one’s hands had advantages."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/03/dining/its-...l?src=recg