Wednesday, October 27, 2010

my pie takes the cake!!

My first blog post! woohoo! Very exciting! I decided not to spend any more time agonizing over which template to use or whether Wordpress or Blogger is right for my needs. I just need to start bloggin! I can tweak things later. I look forward to heaping my ample portion of OPINIONATED prose out into the blogosphere. Many thanks to my awesome friend Tippy for her encouragement. Thank you, Tippy!

And so for the first post - a subject that everyone loves...pie! I am thrilled to report that I was the winner at the 2010 Charlottesville Pie Fest that took place on Oct 3. What a fabulous surprise it was. I had found out about it through one of my long, meandering food blog searches. It sounded like so much fun and for as long as I've been baking (since I was 5, haha), I had never entered a contest before. I knew just the pie to make: my Pear-Cranberry with Gingersnap Crumble Topping (sound the trumpets!). This pie is unusual, it is beautiful, it is simply divine. I was up late, baking this baby, the night before the Pie Fest. I could hear its juices bubbling up in the oven: a comforting sound that told me that my pie was alive, percolating with juicy goodness, and filling my kitchen with heady scents of holidays. It came out of the oven - the crust was a lovely brown and that pile of gingersnap crumble could barely contain the glistening fruit trying to escape from underneath.
I went to bed happy and hopeful!

Pie Fest day was glorious: billowy clouds and autumn light that danced off my green Jetta as I sped the drive from Richmond to Cville. I dropped off my pie at 11 am and returned at 3pm for the announcement of the winners. There were three pies that made it into the final round of judging - the first to be announced was ME! I do admit, I had nervous flutters of excitement as we all waited for the best in show to be named. My name wasn't called for 3rd or 2nd place, and it dawned on me that I was about to win! It was a sweet moment when they called my name as "best pie", haha, and I walked onstage to accept my prize. I know I was grinning like a loon! My pie won "best in show" and "best fruit pie".  Several people came up to me afterwards and told me it was the best pie they had ever eaten. As any baker will tell you, that means a lot, and is truly gratifying to hear. What a happy day! I love a total surprise like that. And to think, I almost didn't go...

So much of why I love to bake is quite simple: making people happy.

The Winning Pie.

A few more photos from the day:


dropping off the pie at the beautiful church...

the lovely shenandoah valley 






3 comments:

  1. Congrat Gallo Girl on your new foodblog :) Pie is a very good thing.
    Come visit Prep2eat which I started this past summer. I am enjoying posting my easy-to-follow recipes hoping to inspire the timid homecook.
    http://www.prep2eat.blogspot.com/
    Look forward to more of your posts.
    The Souper

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  2. The Souper, thank you so much for reading & commenting on my blog - I appreciate it! Pie is a good thing. :) I will check out your blog as well.

    GalloGirl

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  3. Any chance we could have the recipe for this wonderful pie? I'd love to have it on my Thanksgiving table this year :D Cheers!

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