Acme

The ovens are turned on early. Six o'clock most days. Earlier on Sunday. Within an hour, bread is rising, apples are being sliced. Pecan pies are pulled hot from the oven and left to cool. Ice cream churns in the machine. Cups of coffee steam on the prep table, the baker's cup marked with chocolaty fingerprints. By midmorning, pork shoulder, rubbed with spices the day before, is slowly smoked. And white buckets are filled with sliced onions. Corn is shucked. The stock that cooked all night is ta