We went (my young daughter and I, that is.) We brought pies. We joined the predicted hordes (over 100 people there to witness the event, with 49 pies entered into the competition.) We watched carefully as the judges were put through their paces trying said 49 pies (I understand from Gary’s wife that he’d been practicing his ‘non-committal’ faces so as not to give anything away!)
And while we waited, we got a chance to catch up with a bunch of cool local people: @DrNormal and @camikaos from the Strange Love Live podcast; event organizers (let’s hear a huge round of applause for the Pie Commission ladies!) @LizzyCaston, @leloinnopo, and @radiogretchen—in fact, it seemed as if we knew most of the people there!
Finally, they announced the results (and here’s judge Jack Bogdanski’s report.) While my own creation didn’t win anything, I’m happy and proud to announce that OurPDX has ties to two of the winners.
First, our own Tricia won for her stellar tomato pie entry—both for best savory pie and best overall pie—hooray, Tricia! (If you want to try one of these wondrous creations, you can drop by Tricia’s booth Sundays at the Montavilla Farmer’s Market!)
But here’s the win closest to my own heart (not to mention pocketbook and/or kitchen): Zoe Richter (yes, my ten year old daughter, rockin’ a LeLo original apron in that photo) took home the Best Mash-Up Pie blue ribbon for her S’More Pie (which she’s now calling her S’mores Without Fire pie.) Yes, she made it herself. Yes, she’d be happy to make one for you. (In fact, she’s now talking about following in Kir Jensen’s footsteps and opening up her own mini-bakery—you know, after school in her spare time, of course.)
And then everyone ate the rest of the pies.
Yep, it was a great afternoon. And now? I think it might be post-sugar, post-adrenaline nap time…
Were you there? What did you think? Should we do it again next year?
{ 1 trackback }
{ 13 comments }
It was so much fun! We should definitely do it again.
Wow, big kudos to Zoe! Very impressive.
Soooooo stuffed! URP! I’d love to do it again next year, although I think there should be a novice / professional categories, i.e., those who’ve won pie contests before judged separately from those who haven’t. Also…hurray for Zoe!
Congrats Tricia and Zoe!
The Pie-Off was a blast. I didn’t win, but it was still a lot of fun to enter and to eat and see the other entries. This should def. be an annual event! Viva la pie!
Winning recipes, please.
Congrats, Tricia and Zoe!
I don’t think it’s a matter of whether we do it again, but where. Congratulations to all on a fantastic gathering.
Great fun event! Kudos to the organizers and congrats to ALL the bakers! Best “tweetup” event yet.
Check out my twitter stream for my live twitpic blow-by-blow of the event at http://twitter.com/drnormal
You came! You had fun! We’re so glad people had a good time at this event. We’ve posted the winners on the blog, and will put out a call for recipes, for anyone who would like to share. I’m toying with the idea of a self published cookbook, with recipes of the pies, and photos. So if anyone took photos from the event, make sure to post them to Flickr and tag them mmmPie!
Thank you to all of the great support from OurPdx: you guys are awesome.
Congrats to Tricia and Zoe!
How much fun was that? And to think I almost did not go! Thanks to everyone for all of your support – what an incredible turnout.
Thank you Lizzie, Lelo, and Gretchen for all your hard work; and a big shout out to Gary, Kir and Jack! I was very proud of my entry and I appreciate your kudos.
I feel very humbled to have won this contest with so many talented bakers involved.
yes you should do it again!! Next time I won’t make any plans for later in the day so I can stay around to eat the pie!
It was so much fun! What a great community-building event! Way to go to the Portland Pie Commission!
Comments on this entry are closed.