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WATCH: Pie makers in East Hartford are living their American dream

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Making pies has been a tradition in the Harovas family for five decades. Granny’s Pie Factory, in East Hartford, is a family-owned business that is best known for its quaint charm and fresh homemade pies.

Around the holidays, people throughout Connecticut travel to their shop and wait in lines to purchase their favorite pie flavors. Tens of thousands of pies are sold each season. Behind each one is a team of immigrant bakers making the pies from scratch and helping to fulfill family traditions year after year.

Sandra Lopez and Raul Rodriguez met at Granny’s in the early 2000s. Today, they are married and have children of their own. All of that was possible, they say, thanks to the Harovas family and Granny’s Pie Factory.

View more of Connecticut Public's original Mini Docs here.

Raul Rodriquez (right) and his wife Sandra Lopez (left) at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Dave Wurtzel
/
Connecticut Public
Raul Rodriguez (right) and his wife Sandra Lopez (left) at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Fresh pies on a rack at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Dave Wurtzel
/
Connecticut Public
Fresh pies on a rack at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Rosa Medina presses at heats dough to create pie shells. Then transfers them to the oven to be filled at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Dave Wurtzel
/
Connecticut Public
Rosa Medina presses at heats dough to create pie shells. Then transfers them to the oven to be filled at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
The line forms outside of Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Mark Mirko
/
Connecticut Public
The line forms outside of Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Tony Harovas (right) and Joan Harovas (left) have passed down the tradition of pie making to their son, Niko, at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.
Dave Wurtzel
/
Connecticut Public
Tony Harovas (right) and Joan Harovas (left) have passed down the tradition of pie making to their son, Niko, at Granny’s Pie Factory in East Hartford.

Dave Wurtzel is an award winning Visuals Journalist at Connecticut Public.
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