Monday, April 23, 2007
Current mood: ecstatic
Category: Life
I entered the American Pie Council's Crisco National Pie Championships this weekend. I had my week prior planned out to the enth degree, all to culminate with delivering three entries for the contest in Orlando FL Saturday morning and then the festival and awards ceremonies following on the same day.
I entered my Hazelnut Mocha Cream Pie, Sweet n' Tart Mixed Fruit Pie and my Sugar and Spice Pumpkin Pie. The order I listed these in was the actual order that I thought stood the best chance of placing to the least likely. I made up the recipe for the first pie the HMCP in February, the SnTMFP has been in the works for 4 +/- years and the SaSPP was tweaked from my original recipe and perfected last fall around the holidays. The baking and prep work went well all through Friday, my schedule ran into some bumps, I had planned to be done by 10pm so I could catch some zzzzz's. I actually went to bed at 1a.m. and hit the floor running about 4:15 a.m. (when I say I hit the floor running, I mean running for the coffee maker, I was dragging severely.)
James took the day off to attend the contest and festival with me, we got there and delivered my pies with little trouble. Once the pies reached their destination I relaxed and began to really enjoy the day.
I took a look around the temporary kitchen area where the professionals were baking for their competition. I ran into a man I met last year who had encouraged me to enter, John Michael Lerma. I was so glad to see him and surprised he remembered me on sight. He has participated in the amateur category several years running, but this year he has moved up to the professional catagory. He has been teaching cooking classes, and has published his own cook book and recently competed in a Food Network challenge which I can't wait to watch. I was also pleased to meet Dionna Hurt who also previously competed in the amateur category but has moved up to professional status, she now has her own cooking show I believe.
James and I attended the breakfast for the amateurs that morning at the location of the contest, we had a nice time, then left to make our way to Celebration for the festival. We were happy to find that a great car show was also in town right by the Great American Pie Festival so we were able to stroll through both venues. It was a fun day, a long day but a fun one. In the middle of the afternoon my neighbor Lisa and her girls came to check out the festival with us and to cheer me on at the awards ceremony. As the afternoon went on I began to feel more anxious, I just wanted to know how the judging was going and get to the awards. It was exciting.
The awards were to take place at 6:45 p.m., when the time arrived we were standing in the crowds of bakers and their respective cheering sections. Introductions were made, the president and vice president of the APC, along with the chairman of the board and a representative from Crisco. Awards began and categories passed by one by one... I was cheering and thrilled for the bakers who were receiving awards but the chocolate cream pie category came and went without mention of my pie, so did the mixed fruit/berry category still no mention of my pie. At this time I was thinking to myself, I'm having a great day the experience in itself is enough, I'll try again next year. Then came the pumpkin pie category third place announced, second announced and then first place and I heard the name of my pie, I started to literally quiver, then my name. Oh my gosh! I won first place in a national competition with my Sugar and Spice Pumpkin Pie.
Jamie tickled me on the back, I headed up to receive my award, high fiving John Michael along the way. What a thrill! I was startled and excited, I didn't know what to do but Smile! After the final categories were awarded all the first place winners headed to the stage for the announcement of the Best in Show award. It was so exciting, the woman standing next to me won best in show for her Strawberry Cream Pie.
After the awards were over we all stayed on stage and did a little dance, that out of our systems I headed off stage. I talked to John Michael. He wanted to know how I felt all I could think of was I have to call my mom. I hugged him and wished him equal success in his competition then James, Lisa and the girls joined me and we headed to our cars. Once buckled in I started calling... first my mom and dad, they were so happy for me and for a moment my dad got choked up, then my mother-in-law who passed the news on to James' grandmother Joyce, next I tried to call my friend Cat and then Mellanie who was happy for me as well. I was happy to tell her she actually had tried the pie that won whether she knew it or not.
When James and I got home we had company waiting there for us, friends who rode their motorcycles down from Georgia to go to the Sun n' Fun in Lakeland with us the next day. I believe the Sun n' Fun is regarded as the largest air show in the nation. I shared the good news with our friends, it still hadn't sunk in.
The rest of the weekend was a blast, the air show was great, I love seeing the aerobatic planes flying letting out their tails of smoke to highlight the barrel rolls and barn storming, dog fighting moves they do so well. That evening James took our guests on a brief tour of the power plant he works at, I went with and showed my gallery of guinea pigs the blue ribbon with promises of sending some award winning pie to them at work real soon.
Later this week I'll be busy baking pies once more as I'd like to invite a group of my neighbors over to taste what I sent before the judges.
I still can't believe I did it, and I can't wait for next year. I'm off to think up some new recipes to go along with the ideas I started working on late last summer.
Best wishes to you all, thanks to all my friends who cheered me on through this and helped me along the way.
See you later allig8tors
p.s. The American Pie Council web site already shows the Best in Show winners from the Professional, Amateur and Junior category already. I don't know how long it will take them to post the full content of the 2007 winners, I believe they try to announce the winners at least before May is over.
Currently watching : That Thing You Do!
