GRAM's Specialties offers sweet concoctions created with secret recipes handed down through the generations.

Four sisters see the Kanawha City shop as a blessing as well as a way to satisfy those with a sweet tooth.

"Our parents always taught us to put God first," Sandra Renae Richardson said. "Because of that, we feel blessed to have come to a point in our life where we could pursue our dream."

That dream is a bakery where pies are the specialty and other items may be added later.

The name of the shop is compiled from the middle names of the four sisters including Susan Gaynell Mullins of Colorado, Sandra Renae Richardson of Elkview, Renita Ann Miller of Sissonville and Kayla Michelle Shamblin of Cross Lanes. Mullins is visiting from Colorado for an undetermined amount of time to get things going.

Recipes are those of their mother, Dorothy Lee Moore, and her mother, Delcie Mae Smith, a longtime pastry chef at the old Waybright's in Charleston. Smith died in October of 1992 at age 89.

Moore, 75, lives in Cross Lanes and is a phone call away when the girls need advice.

The sisters shop for the freshest ingredients and make all crusts from scratch. Plump pecans come from Oklahoma, sweet cherries from Michigan and wild blueberries from Maine.

"We don't want everything pre-made and dumped into pie dough," Mullins said. "We want as fresh as we can get."

Miller added, "You can't just whip them out. We work well together. We did this with our mother, grandmother and aunt. We would make a lot of pies in the fall. Aunt Ollie Mae Carper now lives in Spencer. She once had Whiz's Dairy Bar in Elkview. We made pecan, pumpkin and chicken pot pies."

The sisters grew up in a family of six on Frame Road in Elkview. Edward Ganell Moore and Dorothy Lee Moore are also the parents of two boys. Eddie Moore is a dentist in Spencer and Greg Moore is an optometrist in South Charleston.

The four sisters now have eight kids of their own ranging in age from 5 to 22. Some of the children helped get the shop ready to open and husbands pitched in with remodeling efforts.

The current list of pies at GRAM's Specialties includes cherry, pecan, pumpkin custard, apple, triple berry, peach, Dutch apple, lemon blueberry, cherry cream cheese and peanut butter. *Price for a slice of pie is $4.59. Whole pies are $18.00 to $35.00.

But each one looks like a million bucks. The edges of the crusts are pinched to perfection and four crusty leaves top each as a trademark of the four sisters. Meringue is piled high. Garnishes range from real lemon slices to peanut butter cups. Rows of pies beckon from a large glass case in the storefront that is decorated in cheery red and white.

The pie on the awning outside and the mural inside were both done by Mandy Starr Skeens of Starr Creations. The inside artwork features a grandma in glasses and bun with rolling pin near a table laden with eggs, flour and fruit. Hiding beneath the table is a whimsical black cat with prominent white whiskers.

While they want a brisk business, they realize supply must meet demand and every pastry is a virtual handmade work of art. They work assembly line style in a spacious kitchen in back of the 3,000-square-foot spotless facility. Each sister has her own special rolling pin made of wood or marble depending upon preference.

Located at 3624 MacCorkle Ave. in Kanawha City, the shop has been open sporadically for about a month. Advertisement has been word of mouth and sales have been brisk. Plans call for opening on a regular basis Jan. 4. *Hours will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. The phone number is 925-7743.

By the way, the sisters are not concerned about New Year's diet resolutions.

"People go on diets but everyone has to have a splurge now and then," Mullins said.