EDWARDSBURG — The sweet scent of warm apple pie will quickly incite memories from one’s childhood — whether that be from a mother’s recipe, a favorite bakery or even at nostalgic trip to McDonald’s.

An exception to this rule might be Cathleen Locey, who has made far too many pies of her own to have one or two specific memories of any one flavor. Not to mention that she specializes in making pies far more exciting and creative than a stereotypical apple pie. That is not to say she does not make a mean apple pie. It is just that she took pie-making to a whole new level.

Throughout motherhood, she created a plethora of tasty dishes  — whether they were meals or desserts — for her husband and children by developing, researching and testing pie recipes.

“I raised seven children and sometimes you have to experiment, and the kids and my husband were the guinea pigs,” Cathleen said. “They always loved the stuff I made, so I just thought I’d do what I love and sell it.”

For about two months, Locey has owned and operated Just Pie in Edwardsburg — a restaurant that serves only one type of food: pie. She runs it a long with her colleagues Denise Higley and Michele Gordon.

However, when it comes to pie, their options are not limited to dessert. They have at least one savory pie on her menu every day.

“The savory is either a spaghetti pie, a deep dish pizza pie, a shepherd’s pie, a taco pie, a pulled pork pie or something along those lines,” she said.

When it comes to sweet, Just Pie serves multiple pies a day such as nut pies, cream pies, almost-any-kind-of fruit pie, butterscotch pies and chocolate cream pies. Each pie can be purchased in a three – five – or nine-inch dish, but nine inch orders must be placed a day in advance.

“The nine-inch [pie] you can get eight slices out of, and the five-inch [pie] is like a personal pie, but I wouldn’t eat the whole thing,” she said. “I would split it in half, but a lot of guys would eat the whole thing. A three-inch is very small. It’s for after your meal.”

Thus far, Locey has been pleasantly surprised with how well Just Pie has done given the insignificant amount of marketing.

“It’s pretty amazing,” she said. “We actually haven’t advertised yet because we’re actually looking to do a few more things.”

“A few more things” will likely include a food truck, which she hopes to use to serve pies to the greater Edwardsburg community throughout the work week.

Also, on the horizon is a grand opening ceremony, which Locey hopes to host in early June.

The only items that she serves besides pie are a few select beverages: milk, coffee and water. Part of her reasoning for limiting her food options to pie is because she has a serious passion for making them.

“You know how an artist loves to paint?” she said. “Something in me just enjoys doing it, and I guess it is like creating because when I do come up with a recipe that people like, it sort of makes me feel good.”

The hours for Just Pie are 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. It is located at 21410 U.S. Highway 12 East.