The Gritty Secret of Entering a Pie Contest

by Dorothy Reinhold on October 19, 2011


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It’s messy.

Messy kitchen with mixer

No, it’s BEYOND messy. That’s the secret — it takes 4 days to clean up the kitchen and the house from a gargantuan pie-making session!

Messy kitchen dishes piled up

The foil pie plates are because I am baking for a contest.

Goal: 6 pies.
Deadline: Bedtime.
Start time: 3 p.m.
Hurdles: Kids arriving home from school, making dinner for the family, etc.

Messy kitchen with overviewCabinets are open, drawers are open (somehow, I can’t seem to close things when I have a big project going on!), recipes on the counter, pie dishes strewn about…

Messy kitchen counterI love this photo above because it shows the whole gamut — bowls of ingredients at the ready (pecan halves, chopped pecans, Health bar bits), eggs, half-filled-out entry forms, recipes, some flowers to brighten things up (if I could even see them in the midst of all this), and the all-important glass of wine! Pie baking goes better with wine.  🙂

Messy kitchen full refrigeratorOh yeah, where are those 2 pies going to go? The ones that need to be kept in the refrigerator?

Lemon Raspberry PieMy moody little Lemon Raspberry Pie, ready for action, but alas, no ribbon for this one! That’s OK. It tasted GREAT!

Pies loaded in the carIt’s always interesting to fit the pies in the car to get them there. And a bit of a an anxious ride on the way. I think I drove as if I had a new baby I was bringing home from the hospital. You remember that?

The result of all this chaos?

5 ribbons! (You can read more about it here.)

Ribbons from pie contest

 

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Grace October 20, 2011 at 9:28 am

Oh, wow! Those pies look terrific. Congratulations on the five ribbons. Can see how much work went into this. Looking forward to the rest of the recipes.

Reply

Dorothy October 20, 2011 at 1:14 pm

Grace,
Thank you!

Reply

Liz Mudroncik October 20, 2011 at 7:19 am

Refreshing to see that I’m not the only one who messes up the entire kitchen when baking!

Reply

Dorothy October 20, 2011 at 1:14 pm

Liz,
I’m thinking it’s a big club of us who do that!

Reply

Marilee Reyes October 19, 2011 at 8:31 pm

OK, Dorothy. If you are going to continue to do this you are just going to have to invest in at least three Tupperware pie carriers. The floor of the van is not a recipe for disaster. One time my cousin, who was a cake decorator for some really big bakeries (he did a life-sized one of Elton John when he signed his first big contract) had to refrost a big deal cake when the van driver stopped quickly to avoid an accident and the cake sections slid all over. Really, the pie carrier could be a life saver.

Reply

Dorothy October 20, 2011 at 4:36 am

Marilee,
You are probably right.
One time, with pies in the back of my van, I turned a sharp corner and the pie slid off the seat and turned OVER on the floor! I almost cried. Luckily, it was a sturdy pie and I was able to pop it back rightside up and I carried on. But imagine if it had been a cream pie or something truly messy. Ugh!

Reply

Kelli October 19, 2011 at 6:26 pm

Great post!! Love the wine. I would feel right at home in your kitchen.

Reply

Dorothy October 19, 2011 at 8:11 pm

Kelli,
On your next trip out here, come over and we’ll cook some kale together! Or drink some wine! Either way, OK with me.

Reply

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