And the winner is...

Not me. Don't feel bad for me, I really wasn't expecting to win. I was proud of the fact that I turned in a pie and didn't quit after my 2^nd failed attempt.

After making 4 practice pies and consulting with numerous people, cookbooks and recipes, I am surprised I am not sick of apples or the pies they are baked in. I was just thinking about giving it another try but putting in some tweaks. Sunday, I made my best pie so far for my friend, Audra. This one had a great crust, nicely cut apples (if I say so myself), and a great caramel sauce. I topped it with a yummy crumble and was beaming with pride until I went to take it out of the oven. I ask you, what am I doing wrong? Every pie I make is SOGGY. The apples tend to maintain a nice bite, but swim in a bath of apple juicy caramel (then again, don't most of us want to swim in a bath of apple juicy caramel?). The liquid turns my cup of butter dough into mush. I was thinking I need to add 1-2 tablespoons of flour to the apples before I add them to the crust and pour on the caramel. Please let me know if you have the answer.

Well, here's how the day of the contest went. I didn't go into this thinking I could win. OK, maybe I had a few daydreams of how cool it would be to get 3rd place and offset the cost of all the flour, butter, Crisco, sugar (white and brown), cinnamon and apples. However, positive thinking was not going to save me from the fact that my entry pie had a river of apple juice running through it.

Saturday was a typical day for my family. It was filled with chaos from the moment the first child woke up. I jumped out of bed at 5:15 totally pumped to make a kick ass pie. I had made the crust the day before and it had been chilling in the flimsy disposable foil pan all night. (See how I'm already blaming everything but myself!) I was peeling, coring and slicing my apples (I can almost do it in my sleep at this point), when I heard Squirt wake up. My 22 month old got up at 5:30 and was not happy enough to be with daddy. He was dumped into the kitchen with me, asking/crying "Hey you". That is his very special way of saying "Momma, pick me up now or I will throw a tantrum". Reasoning with him didn't work (not that it ever does). But a pie needed to be made! So, daddy came back and threatened to put Squirt back in his crib it he didn't stop waking up rest of the house and I got back to my pie.

With a pie in the oven (not to be confused with a bun in the oven), I went about to get my family dressed and out the door in time to enter into the contest. And for those of you who think “If she got up at 5:15, sliced up her apples, made a caramel sauce, assembled then baked it for 50 minutes, why does she have to rush out the door at 8:45? Isn't that 3 ½ hours to get everything done?” Well, getting kids ready is very much like herding cats. It never goes as planned and takes way too long.

Finally... To the Farmer's Market!

There were a total of 11 pies entered. All very different. Some with crumble tops, some with no tops, just really cool pastry cut outs. Some with pie crust covers and then mine with the lattice top. It looked very nice (they were judging on appearance). I'm sure I got one or two points for that!

Here's the fun part. Between 9:00-10:00, I had planned on running to the post office, then hurrying back with plenty of time to play in the park with two of my kids before watching the judging and planning an acceptance speech or a really great way of humbly walking away with no prize at all. Diva, my 6 year old was positive I was going to win. She's my #1 fan :)

Yeah, so we get to the post office and my cell phone rings. It is my 4 year old, Blondie. She has called on behalf of her father, who's hands are covered in caulk and he can't figure out how to get it off. He is also unable to get dressed, let alone drive a car, to get her to her morning class. So, Squirt, Diva and I turn around, head home to take Blondie to her class. Then we rush to the park and under much pleading and begging, we go to the market to wait by this open sided tent that has 11 pies, 4 judges and tons of bees. It is 10:15 and they are just cutting into the pies.

While waiting, I learned that two of the pies were made by 8-10 year old sisters who were using their grandmother's recipe. I was torn between thinking how sweet that they did this with their family recipe and then thinking how much it would suck to lose to an 8 year old.

In the end, some very old lady won with her last minute entry. By the time the announced the winner, Diva was having a 5 star pouting/tantrum (academy award winning performance), Squirt wanted a nap and Blondie to try all the pies. My husband did get most of the caulk off his hand after trying soap, rubbing alcohol and nail polish remover. It ends up old fashion elbow grease worked best.
I have told my children that I will continue to try to make a great apple pie so that maybe next year my chances of winner are a little better. Or at least I can kick some 8 year old's butt. Not that I'm bitter.

The dawning of a new Apple Pie

The story of Apple Pie II

I figured out my problem with this Apple Pie from scratch thing...I don't like to follow directions. Baking isn't like cooking, you can't just wing it. There are steps that need to be followed in order to create the anticipated results. I have some wonderful recipes to work with, but I am having problems following them as written, which brings me to Apple Pie II (to further be referred to as APII).

I blame the fairy tale of the wife of yesteryear baking an apple pie and leaving it on the windowsill to cool. Her kids didn't watch tv while she sliced those apples. Didn't she have 10-14 kids anyway and was always pregnant? And the fable never mentions her complaining about all the dishes that needed to be cleaned. In fact, she also cleaned the house, milked the cow, gathered the eggs and then made her own butter while waiting for the pie to bake. I understand she didn't have the distractions of TIVO, the Internet, e-mail, voice mail or some ranting blog she feels she needs to write because maybe someone out there will read it. Yes, her life was a little less complex technology wise. Then again, I have a 2 minute drive to a grocery store with a complete dairy, meat and produce section, so I don't have to take care of any livestock, spend my daylight hours taking care of a kitchen garden or churn until my arms want to fall off. I bet I would have rock solid biceps if I started churning my own butter. Something to look into.

Tying this together...for some reason I thought I could start making an apple pie around 3pm and be done by 6pm and serve it for dessert that night. I guess if I want to make an ok pie with a store bought crust, I can do that. However, to make a 1st place prize winning pie, this will take 1-2 days. Who's got that kinda time?

For APII, I used a different crust recipe. It was very easy. However, it said to chill it before using it. Huh? I think this is going to take planning. Then one needs to go through a series of steps to bake the crust BEFORE even adding the apples. THEN, after the baked crust has totally chilled, the apples can be dealt with (which can take from 1-3 hours). THEN, the apples chill with the baked crust. THEN it bakes together for an hour. THEN you can eat it. I had no idea this could be so time constraining. I do understand why people make many pies at the same time. If you are going through all this effort, you might as well mass produce.



Here we have APII. My opinion is that the crust is much better than the last pie, however the apples are not as good. Two things I didn't like: the apples were sliced too thin and I only used Granny Smith instead of a mix. I started making this pie at 4pm on Monday and took it out of the oven at 9:50pm.

For APIII, I'm going to make the crust the night before, bake the crust in the am, cut up the apples around lunchtime, bake the pie as a whole around 4pm. This way we will get to eat it at dinner time. Also, I might start tinkering with different apples, so I will try making 2 pies at once.

This is the new crust recipe I'm using (super easy). I am weighing the idea of purchasing a leaf stamper to win some presentation points. Will I be able to amortize the cost of this stamper over the next 40 years of pie baking (since I probably won't recoup the cost in this contest!). I tried making leaves for this pie, which only reminded me that I am more analytical than creative.

Apple Pie Version 1.0

Today I made a pie from start to finish. As you can see from the pictures, it wouldn't win any contests (at least not the one's with Gale Gand as the judge). However, 3 out of 4 of my harshest critics said it was wonderful. I can even quote one of my favorite gourmands "Mom, it was fabulous!" With comments like that, I feel I can do no wrong or my kids will say anything to keep those desserts coming.

Yesterday I had a 1 1/2 year old hanging on my leg. Today I had a 4 year old who said she wanted to help me bake but the truth is she just wanted to play Barbies with me. So again I was distracted in my baking and in my opinion did a half assed job.

I used two books (lent from my friend Julie ;) One to make the crust and the other to make the filling. For the crust, I used the Apple Pie - Sweet and Simple recipe from Peggy K Glass' Home-Cooking Sampler: Family Favorites from A to Z. I do not blame Peggy for anything that went wrong. Just as I was measuring that first cup of flour I realized I didn't have enough for the second scoop (that's how organized I am). I ended up using 1/2 a cup of whole wheat flour as a substitute. If I wasn't so honest I could totally spin this and say how I am trying to incorporate more whole wheat fiber rich products into my family's diet. But the truth is I just ran out of bleached flour.

My 4 year old was not happy that I wouldn't let her roll out the very sticky dough I had put in the refrigerator. I forget that she has slightly less baking experience than me and that she didn't think there was anything wrong with the dough sticking to her, me, the rolling pin and the cutting board but not itself. You can't get upset if you have no expectations.

Eventually I smooshed the dough into the pie pan and decided not to even bother with the top layer, this was too hard for someone who should be hanging out in a Barbie penthouse with her afternoon playdate.

The only apples I had left in the house were 2 Granny Smiths and 3 Braeburns. I'm sure those aren't exactly what I'm supposed to use, but that's all I had and after the whole wheat flour experience, I didn't think the wrong apples would make much of a difference in this doomed pie.

For the filling I used The Best All-American Apple Pie recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Pie and Pastry Bible. It was a good recipe, I especially like how she suggests you reduce down the liquid from the apples with butter to create a nice caramel that you add back to the apples. It sounds so nice, I hope next time I can actually execute it properly. I don't have the patience to let something sit and boil without poking at it and messing it up.



Finally, or in the eyes of a 4 year old, after taking FOREVER, I just stuck the pie in the over and went to play. It wasn't until about 30 minutes later when I went to check on my creation that I realized a pie without a top crust might burn the apples. D'oh.

In the end, the apples were yummy even though they tasted a little dried out (no top layer to hold in the moisture). The bottom part of the crust was under cooked (so one can really enjoy that added wheat flour). However the small parts of crust that were on the outside edges were crunchy and tasty.

If I can run to the store in the morning, I will try this again during nap time (and distract the 4 year old in another room so I have no one to blame but myself).

Oh, and because I do try to encourage cooking with kids in the kitchen (yeah, right) this is what my budding chef made for snack. I call it ants on a log. She renamed it grass and the grasshoppers. I have no idea what she's talking about. It is amazing how simple this is and what pride my little girl has in something she created.

All you need is celery sticks, peanut butter and raisins.

Apple Pie Debaucle #1

Oh dear. I think I only have 24 days left until the Apple Pie Baking Contest and I have yet to test run a pie.

These are things I have learned so far: Do not try to make your very first pie crust ever with your 1 1/2 year old son hanging on your leg while you are talking on the phone. I was trying to multi-task (being the card carrying super mom I am) and I found myself trying to read from a cookbook, blabbing on the phone with a friend (hey Danielle) and entertaining my son while adding ingredients to my food processor.

More things I have learned: I am not the best at multi-tasking.

During the key moments of pie crust making where you need to decide if the dry ingredients need more wet or if everything is just right, I flaked (I think there is an intentional pun here as an apology for a future pie crust that isn't). I handed the kid my measuring spoons, pressed pulse a few more times and probably added too much water while agreeing that it is not my job to decide for others in my household to join or not join something called my dad and me. If only I had simultaneously listed a few things on Ebay, this could have turned into a more promising exercise.

Currently, there are two balls of raw pie crust in my refrigerator. During a certain toddler's nap tomorrow, I expect to be slicing apples, mixing sugar and cinnamon and having the smells of warm apple pie greet my family when they return home.

Who's up for a slice? I am taking reservations now. I know I've got Julie and Audra down for a slice each, I just need another 1 or 2 guinea pigs, I mean volunteers for this pie.

Looking for Volunteers

There are a few spontaneous decisions I have made without properly consulting with my husband. They have not all turned out well. He is a "feet on the ground, let's think it through, read the fine print" kinda guy. I am a "jump first, think later" kinda girl.

Saturday at the Farmer's Market, I did one of those "it seemed like a good idea at the time" things. I signed myself up for the Apple Pie Baking contest. Last year, we were at the market during the judging. Observing the judges trying 10 very different looking apple pies and meeting some of the competitors (who seemed to be squirming) made quite an impression on me.

I have only baked 3-5 apple pies in my life and all of them have used store bought crusts.

This is where you come in. I need help. Please, lend me your experience, your knowledge, your know-how. Tell me your do's and don'ts for making a FIRST PLACE WINNER apple pie and crust. If I place in 1st, 2nd or 3rd place, I will gladly share the prize with you and maybe some of the fame :).

And for those of you who might not have a pie recipe in your repertoire, I still need your help. I need people to taste test these pies. I am glad we are nearing sweatpants season so I will be able to hide the extra pounds I am about to put on, but I can't do it alone. Let me know if you can volunteer yourself and/or your family for the greater good and accept a slice or two or three of pie-in-progress as I experiment towards the perfect recipe.

When I come back to post after September 15th about how the contest went, I assure you that there will be a line from my husband similar to "this was the most expensive piece of apple pie I have ever eaten". And why will he say that? Because after baking 1-3 pies a week over the next 4 weeks, the grand prize of a $100 gift certificate to Stoney River (a steak restaurant in downtown Deerfield) will pale in comparison to the money spent, time invested and chaos I will create in my kitchen over this spur of the moment quest for recongnition. But then again, life is about the journey, right? It's not about winning the prize, it's about the experiences you have along the way. And I will be sure to share them all with you.