My Prize-winning Pie

You may be wondering, "What does a heterosexual bachelor man know about baking?" - Well, this ain't my first rodeo!  When I had my B&B I did all the cooking and baking.  My favorite things to make for those breakfast goers were Blackberry Scones.  Since I've closed down my B&B I haven't done much in the kitchen.  It is always difficult to prepare a dish for just one person.  Since I don't do any entertaining in my home my meals have been simple, small, sparce and uninspiring.  Well, that's pretty dull!  So when it was announced that there would be a pie contest during our local spring festival, "Butter Day", I decided to get back into the kitchen.

I looked through my recipes and came up with an apple pie recipe that I felt I would want to share in the contest.  The two things I love best about an apple pie are the crust and the filling.  This one gives you lots of crust (I use lard!) and gobs of filling!

There are all sorts of secrets I've learned over my years of baking and I've found pies to always be a challenge - even knowing those secrets!  So I knew I had my work cut out for me, if I wanted to be a contender in a contest.

It is very important to choose the best apples for your pie.  In the days when I had an orchard there was no question - just use what I grew!  But now I had to make a choice.  I've made and tasted pies over a lifetime that were: soggy, some were tart, some were sour or sweet, others tasted like they used rotten apples!   For this pie I chose fresh Fuji and Gala varieties. (Not dried apples, like Ma Ingalls did out of necessity!)  This combination gives you a mild sweet-tart flavoring.  I kept the rest of the filling simple, with few spices, to let the apples be the star.

On the other side of a pie contest sits the panel of judges, their criteria, their judging skills and the field of competitors.  When you enter a pie contest you never know what you'll be up against!  This is also the case with a double-crusted pie!  Like Forest Gump said of a box of chocolates and life, "You never know what you'll get!"

I don't know why my pie finished in the place it did - maybe it was just my time!  But I was happy with what I produced and glad to have my work honored.  I don't know if I'll ever enter another pie contest or not - maybe quitting while you are ahead is the safest and most honorable thing to do.  I don't feel that I'd like to make a career out of pie making, but at least this got me back into the kitchen!  Maybe I'll spend more time in there - this was satisfying! 

A few things I've learned from my years of baking are these:

• Don't let anyone tell you that you won't succeed!
• Don't take yourself too seriously - even Julia Child had her bad days!
• Don't take the work too seriously - if you make a mess with the flour - get over it, it will clean up!
• Don't take the finished product too seriously - don't get discouraged - if at first you don't succeed, try again.
• If you have disasters, remember there is a difference between humility and being humbled.  Practice this phrase, "It's not burnt, just a little over-cooked."

I don't know if Laura had entered any baking contests when she lived in Mansfield.  Butter Day is a festival that honors our dairy industry.  We used to have a number of dairy farms around Mansfield, but most of them are gone now.   Mansfield had three creameries when Butter Day was first established in 1953.  We still celebrate with this festival, but the farmers couldn't keep up with the larger dairies and fell by the wayside.  I'd like to see them come back - maybe today's economy will encourage some to get back into it - I hope so!  I don't believe that the entrepreneural spirit is dead; just hidden, waiting for the perfect moment to re-emerge!  I long for, "The good old days"!

"Cooperation is the keynote of affairs today, and our lives seem to be governed mostly by the advice of experts.  But the more we think for ourselves, the less we shall need advice; and high-priced experts would not need to waste... our money in telling us things we should think out for ourselves."
Laura Inalls Wilder