Mama shares the family's secret apple pie recipe at her disheartened daughter Dory's birthday party, hoping that Dory will be able to find the right ingredients for a new life.

Dory, 65, and her 85-year-old mother Margaret live together in a mobile home in Abilene, Texas. On the morning of Dory's birthday, her Mama has awakened early with the overwhelming need to bake her birthday girl an apple pie. When the noise awakens Dory, she reluctantly joins her mother, and together they assemble the pie and chat. While she teaches Dory the old family recipe, Mama reveals some long-kept secrets that alter Dory's understanding of her past. But Mama defiantly justifies her need for secrets, suggesting that the truth isn't always what it is, but what people believe it to be. Mama brings about a flurry of surprises for Dory's birthday, and as the pie comes out of the oven, Dory's world is forever changed.