Pastry-cook standing in front of her mortar. Clay. A pestle on the right, a small bowl on the left. The larger vessel is filled with dough balls. The woman wears a chlamys with short sleeves. Rests of paint. (6th BCE). From Tanagra. Photo credit: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY.

For Dr. Rebecca Craik, whose second and final term as PTJ's Editor in Chief ends this month, baking—especially making pies—has deep significance. As a Craik family tradition that is practiced almost to the level of industry, it is a creative act that binds family and friends across generations. It also is a demanding physical activity that, as Craik has soberly observed, eventually exceeds the endurance and joint mobility of older practitioners for whom baking is an indicator of quality of life. Baking is an apt metaphor for how Craik approached leadership of the journal: she assembled and mixed the best-quality ingredients—Editorial Board, authors, reviewers—and set a high bar. As with her pies, interesting and sometimes unexpected things happened during the process, and there was always a feast for the mind.