I hope everyone had a fabulous Derby. I hope you sat back and enjoyed a Mint Julep. I hope your horse won. I hope you served your friends a delicious piece of Derby P---

Don't say it!

If over the weekend you cooked up a chocolate pecan bourbon concoction and called it Derby Pie®, then you my friend committed trademark infringement. Unless you purchased your pie at Kern's Kitchen, it was NOT Derby Pie ®.

Derby Pie® was created by George Kern and the recipe is passionately protected by the Kern family. The secret recipe is only known to the family and single Kern's Kitchen employee who makes the pie everyday. If you make a similar pie, you better alter the recipe and call it something else.

Think back. How many times have you seen "chocolate pecan pie" on a menu and wondered why they just don't call it Derby Pie ®?

In their defense, it is delicious pie. One of the best parts of attending Transylvania University is they serve Kern's Kitchen in the cafeteria. As a Western Kentuckian, I was not familiar with the finer points of pie but I have to say I now look for that little Kern's Kitchen stamp on the crust. If I see it, I know I have a treat in store.

Now you know, Colonel Sanders isn't the only Kentuckian with a secret recipe...or a trademark to back it up!

~ Sarah Stewart Holland