Cake is fine, but I love pie: The buttery crust. The jammy filling. The custard!! The non-negotiable addition of vanilla ice cream. The joy of a whipped cream dollop.
When I was about 10, I won first place in a pie-eating contest at a harvest festival. With my hands tied behind my back, I dove in face first and devoured an entire (kid-size) apple pie.
When my husband and I got married, we opted out of wedding cake, serving strawberry-rhubarb pie with ice cream instead. But pumpkin pie was my first love. Pumpkin pie is the one true meaning of Thanksgiving. Every year I’m thankful for… this perfect piece of pumpkin pie.
So I was delighted to find an email in my inbox earlier this week inviting me to be a judge in this year’s King Arthur Baking pie contest at Middlebury’s Foodaroo on Aug. 11.
Would I like to sit with a panel of judges and eat all the pies and talk in great detail about their characteristics?
Do you even need to ask? I told the organizer it would be my great honor and pleasure.
I’m hoping to taste as many pies as possible at this event, so please, register to compete. There are two separate contests, one for kids and one for adults. Get the whole family in on it. Wow me with your creations!
