The Pie Contest

The pie contest event that I entered was last Thursday evening at Walnut Creek Cheese, a unique local shop that is huge. a bulk food area, fresh meats, full deli, regular groceries, wonderful ice cream and an area called The Butter Churn, which has all kinds of unique kitchen ware. So they sponsored this free event plus you could enter a pie contest. I have never done that in my life, but I thought it might be fun. The early entrants would get a free Taste of Home Pie cookbook, so I figured at least I'd get that!

They have daily specials, lots of other food to order to dine in for meals and there is a second story area with tables for eating. This picture is taken from there looking down to the main store area on one side. There were rows of chairs set up instead of tables for that evening and there were 300 people registered. I never even thought of taking my camera along, but my sister-in-law did, or I would have no pictures!

We got there pretty early, so this is just a small portion of the pies...there were 52 altogether, I think. There were long tables that kept filling up. See my lemon meringue pie there and just for fun, I made a baby one in a little half pint jar. Just for cute to see how it would turn out. The judging was to be 50% on taste, 25% on looks and 25% on crust.

So at 5:30, they had cooking demonstrations by Lee Ann Miller (a Taste of Home field editor) and Betty, another lady who works at the store. The did a really good job together. We learned how to make a pretty apple stomboli, as well as a meat one, a chocolate toffee "Christian crack(le)"(you had to be there), a very cool upside down pecan apple pie...all using products in the store and Butter Churn.

We learned and we laughed. Plus, they kept giving away lots of door prizes all evening. It was my lucky night or something...I actually won two prizes, a cookbook and a little cheese grater set. And then the pie winners were announced after the demos. The were 3 categories...fruit, nut and pumpkin. I had entered the fruit with the lemon meringue. There were 3 winners in each category. I was the third place winner in my category! I was so not expecting that AT ALL!! My prize was a free year subscription to Taste of Home magazine and my name gets mentioned in it. Three second place and three first place in each. Then a grand prize person out of them. The grand prize person overall will be featured in the magazine, a Bed and Breakfast stay, $100, and a free subscription. She was also the first place winner in the nut category. Her pie was pecan.

Afterwards, we could sample all the foods that that they had shown recipes for or done demonstrations of and others samples throughout the store, as well as a discount to shop. The meatballs and the smoked turkey were awesome! And that's what I'm having for Thanksgiving! I loved the tables decorated for Christmas too...I got some good ideas!.

This is Judy, my wonderful SIL, who entered two yummy pies, a pumpkin cream and dutch apple. She let me use her oven to bake mine, since we had just ordered a new stove/oven and wouldn't you know, they pick that morning to install it. I was a little stressed, so I ran back and forth to her place baking the crust and then going home to make the filling and meringue, then back up there to put it together and bake it again. So thank you Judy!

The 9 winning pies.

Me and my pie, with exhaustion setting in...but it was certainly a fun evening!!