A couple of years ago I heard about a local pie contest in Brooklyn, at the Brookllyn Kitchen, actually. It sounded like fun, the proceeds went to a local shelter, which always tugs at my heart. So I entered. The whole contest was put forth by Daisy Flours, a local organic mill from Anneville, PA, and their flours are divine! That's actually what I always use. So I thought this would be a no-brainer.
I polled my fans. Key lime with blackberries in a gingersnap crust.
Briefly, I thought that if a flour company were sponsoring it, perhaps a traditional crust was required. I double-checked the rules, there was no mention of this (possibly because it was so freakin' obvious!)
Alright, so cut to the chase, of course, I didn't win. There was a judges' award, where they were really looking for tender, flaky crusts. And the fan favorite award -- well, $1 bought you a vote, and you could buy as many votes as you wanted; enough said.
I looked at entering the big National Pie Contest. One of its main sponsors is Crisco. All the pies look so perfect, ladened with processed ingredients. I'm still thinking about that one.
Then one day recently my friends at Farmers Web contacted me and asked if I would be interested in participating in a pie contest. Farmers Web is a great company, and the people are smart and forward-thinking. They pull together farmers, dairies, bakers and food producers like me all into one site where restaurants, groceries, commissaries, companies, etc, can purchase directly from us -- all local foods.
Sure, of course, I love a contest as I am secretly absurdly competitive (comes from being the youngest of 11 and always have to vie for everything.)
It turned out that this pie contest would be part of a benefit for Just Food, a 16-year-old non-profit dedicated to local food and sustainability, and Pie Country would be one of five contestants -- including Magnolia Bakery, Bubby's, First Prize Pies, and Jimmy's No. 43. The judges included such notable names as Melissa Clark of The New York Times, Josh Ozersky, Time food columnist, Chef Johnny Iuzzini (head judge of Top Chef's Just Desserts), and Ed Levine of the Serious Eats blog. They would determine the Judges' Award. And the 500+ guests would each receive one ticket to vote, and this would determine the Fan Favorite award. A good, fair contest.
The judges voted based on: creativity, taste, presentation, and amount of local ingredients.
I contacted my three pie gurus who happen to be people who have attended many food benefits around New York like this one. The two guys both said chocolate cream hands down. The third guru, my friend Beverly, said honey pinenut.
Samples for 500 people were required. Next question to my pie gurus: Full slices of pie or my "pie babies" (mini 2" bites of pure delight!). "Full slices are more satisfying" was one answer. "Pie babies are such a lovely presentation" was another.
So I decided on Chocolate Cream, and I would bring 5 whole pies and the rest in pie babies that I would assemble on site.
The week before the pie contest I got hit with that nasty change-of-season cold. I immediately hit my bed and started to take all the herbs and homeopathic remedies I could think of. I felt much better and started to get my wind back. Then the cough set in, and then it got worse.
When I get sick like this, the idea of milk and cream always makes me feel congested. So as I tried to think about the chocolate cream pies, it was just not feeling good to me. I don't know how to describe it. But to make 500 samples, I needed to feel good about what I was making. There was no way I wanted to be around chocolate cream, so I punted.
Honey pinenut sounded so much better to my recovering body. Though my chocolate cream would have been a totally local pie, unfortunately pinenuts are not indigenous to the NE, and I did not have time to find Tucker and his local black walnuts from Yonkers. I took the risk of having one main ingredient not local. I suspect this is one reason why I didn't win the Judges' award.
My honey pinenut is made with all local honey -- some of which is from NYC, all of which is from NYS. It's delicious. One honey maker introduced me to a new seasonal honey that I had never tried before -- "Basswood" -- wow, it's so subtle, light but distinct. I used that combined with some other light varieties, mixed with fresh local cream and sweet butter.
Pinenut line the pie shell as the honey mixture is poured in. It's a sublimely pretty pie -- both to look at and to eat.
Now, on the day of the contest, I was so nervous! I thought my son and husband would be able to help me, but my boy had PSATs the next day, so needed to be home with dad. I was on my own.
The event was so well-organized. A nice young man was there and ready to help me unload all my pies, utensils, signage, etc. And he kept saying to me "Oh man, this smells so good." That kept me smiling. He found a crew to hang my sign. Every once in a while he'd come back just to sniff. He finally said, "Nothing here smells nearly as good as yours."
Wow. This was making me really happy. Just to see this guy's smile, he was chomping at the bit to have a bite of my pie. I like this.
All the pie contestants were wonderful -- friendly and supportive. We all tasted each others' pies. Of course, I thought mine was far superior. And so did the Bubby's guy, Ron Silver. What a nice guy! He said mine would win. He brought their famous Apple Bourbon, I don't remember what Magnolia brought. Allison from First Prize Pies made a new pie -- Candied Apple -- that had a bright red swirl of candy coating on the top crust. Jimmy's brought a savory pie and gave samples on a spoon.
So many people came back to Pie Country for seconds. Quite a few wrapped some of my pie babies in a napkin to bring home to someone. And I cannot tell you how many people came back with bright smiles saying "I voted for you", "You've got my vote", etc. What fun! I love praise.
Alas, I did not win the Judges' award. BUT BUT BUT I did win the best award of all -- FAN FAVORITE!
Yeah for me, yeah for my pie -- named for my lovely sister-in-law, by the way. It's called: Pierre's Nutty Honeypie. It is a supremely delicious pie, one you'll want to come back to time and time again. Be sure to try it soon.
I polled my fans. Key lime with blackberries in a gingersnap crust.
Briefly, I thought that if a flour company were sponsoring it, perhaps a traditional crust was required. I double-checked the rules, there was no mention of this (possibly because it was so freakin' obvious!)
Alright, so cut to the chase, of course, I didn't win. There was a judges' award, where they were really looking for tender, flaky crusts. And the fan favorite award -- well, $1 bought you a vote, and you could buy as many votes as you wanted; enough said.
I looked at entering the big National Pie Contest. One of its main sponsors is Crisco. All the pies look so perfect, ladened with processed ingredients. I'm still thinking about that one.
Then one day recently my friends at Farmers Web contacted me and asked if I would be interested in participating in a pie contest. Farmers Web is a great company, and the people are smart and forward-thinking. They pull together farmers, dairies, bakers and food producers like me all into one site where restaurants, groceries, commissaries, companies, etc, can purchase directly from us -- all local foods.
Sure, of course, I love a contest as I am secretly absurdly competitive (comes from being the youngest of 11 and always have to vie for everything.)
It turned out that this pie contest would be part of a benefit for Just Food, a 16-year-old non-profit dedicated to local food and sustainability, and Pie Country would be one of five contestants -- including Magnolia Bakery, Bubby's, First Prize Pies, and Jimmy's No. 43. The judges included such notable names as Melissa Clark of The New York Times, Josh Ozersky, Time food columnist, Chef Johnny Iuzzini (head judge of Top Chef's Just Desserts), and Ed Levine of the Serious Eats blog. They would determine the Judges' Award. And the 500+ guests would each receive one ticket to vote, and this would determine the Fan Favorite award. A good, fair contest.
The judges voted based on: creativity, taste, presentation, and amount of local ingredients.
I contacted my three pie gurus who happen to be people who have attended many food benefits around New York like this one. The two guys both said chocolate cream hands down. The third guru, my friend Beverly, said honey pinenut.
Samples for 500 people were required. Next question to my pie gurus: Full slices of pie or my "pie babies" (mini 2" bites of pure delight!). "Full slices are more satisfying" was one answer. "Pie babies are such a lovely presentation" was another.
So I decided on Chocolate Cream, and I would bring 5 whole pies and the rest in pie babies that I would assemble on site.
The week before the pie contest I got hit with that nasty change-of-season cold. I immediately hit my bed and started to take all the herbs and homeopathic remedies I could think of. I felt much better and started to get my wind back. Then the cough set in, and then it got worse.
When I get sick like this, the idea of milk and cream always makes me feel congested. So as I tried to think about the chocolate cream pies, it was just not feeling good to me. I don't know how to describe it. But to make 500 samples, I needed to feel good about what I was making. There was no way I wanted to be around chocolate cream, so I punted.
Honey pinenut sounded so much better to my recovering body. Though my chocolate cream would have been a totally local pie, unfortunately pinenuts are not indigenous to the NE, and I did not have time to find Tucker and his local black walnuts from Yonkers. I took the risk of having one main ingredient not local. I suspect this is one reason why I didn't win the Judges' award.
My honey pinenut is made with all local honey -- some of which is from NYC, all of which is from NYS. It's delicious. One honey maker introduced me to a new seasonal honey that I had never tried before -- "Basswood" -- wow, it's so subtle, light but distinct. I used that combined with some other light varieties, mixed with fresh local cream and sweet butter.
Pinenut line the pie shell as the honey mixture is poured in. It's a sublimely pretty pie -- both to look at and to eat.
Now, on the day of the contest, I was so nervous! I thought my son and husband would be able to help me, but my boy had PSATs the next day, so needed to be home with dad. I was on my own.
The event was so well-organized. A nice young man was there and ready to help me unload all my pies, utensils, signage, etc. And he kept saying to me "Oh man, this smells so good." That kept me smiling. He found a crew to hang my sign. Every once in a while he'd come back just to sniff. He finally said, "Nothing here smells nearly as good as yours."
Wow. This was making me really happy. Just to see this guy's smile, he was chomping at the bit to have a bite of my pie. I like this.
All the pie contestants were wonderful -- friendly and supportive. We all tasted each others' pies. Of course, I thought mine was far superior. And so did the Bubby's guy, Ron Silver. What a nice guy! He said mine would win. He brought their famous Apple Bourbon, I don't remember what Magnolia brought. Allison from First Prize Pies made a new pie -- Candied Apple -- that had a bright red swirl of candy coating on the top crust. Jimmy's brought a savory pie and gave samples on a spoon.
So many people came back to Pie Country for seconds. Quite a few wrapped some of my pie babies in a napkin to bring home to someone. And I cannot tell you how many people came back with bright smiles saying "I voted for you", "You've got my vote", etc. What fun! I love praise.
Alas, I did not win the Judges' award. BUT BUT BUT I did win the best award of all -- FAN FAVORITE!
Yeah for me, yeah for my pie -- named for my lovely sister-in-law, by the way. It's called: Pierre's Nutty Honeypie. It is a supremely delicious pie, one you'll want to come back to time and time again. Be sure to try it soon.
RSS Feed