Sure, you may love your @whiffies fried pies. Line up to score full pies at places like Random Order or Bi-Partisan Cafe. But the ultimate Pie Event of the summer is happening this Sunday (Sundayyy….Sundayyyy….)

Portland Pie-Off

This year, the lovely Pie Commissioners have added another to their ranks. Laid down some must-read rules. Have been rocking the Twitter stream at @portlandpieoff (using the #mmmpie hashtag, of course.) Added several new judges — including Gregg Abbott from Whiffies, last year’s Grand Prize winner Tricia Butler, and County Commissioner Jeff Cogen — to the list of judges I can now bribe I need to stay clear of for fear of damaging their impartiality.

And I’m ready. Now that Tricia won’t be competing and my own lovely offspring (last year’s winner of the Mash-Up pie category, with her S’More Pie) is away at sleepaway camp for the week, well — I’m stepping into the Mash-Up category with my own secret concoction in the hope that the Richter family can take the blue ribbon for a second year in a row.

You can dare take me on, of course (this year’s competitors are encouraged to register online well before the event.) But even if you’re not a baker, you can still show up to eat pie, right? Right.

But I should warn you: I’m in it to WIN IT, people.

After all, I’ve had to live with the humiliation that my own 10 year old daughter beat me at a baking competition for too long, already…

#mmmpie!

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• June 4, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for June 4th (0)
• August 30, 2008 -- Portland MEAT Pies – Pie Off (12)
• July 29, 2008 -- Mmmm…pie! (3)
• October 5, 2009 -- SLL: Art Night with Mark Colman (0)
• August 17, 2009 -- SLL: WordcampPdx 2009, Urban Airship and PIE (0)

Here’s what we’ve found as we’ve traveled the local PDX web (complete with our comments) for June 4th:

• Sad news: Oregon Media Insiders blog calling it quits | Silicon Florist

  Rick's got the scoop, including a link to Lynn's goodbye post: "OMI has been the go-to resource for the pulse of the media scene around here. It takes all kinds—point and counterpoint—and it will be sorely missed.

  Love it or hate it. OMI was a voice. And an important voice at that."

  The site is going down for good tomorrow at some point, I've been told – unless someone wants to take it over. I'd contact Lynn via Twitter DM: @lynnsiprelle.

• Portland Pie-Off: Save the Date!

  Our own Radio Gretchen moonlights as one of the Portland Pie Commissioners – and they have an important announcement to make. This year's Pie-Off will be held on August 16, 2009 at Peninsula Park.

  Get this site in your RSS reader, and start getting out those cookbooks…!

• Dave Knows: Portland | New York Press writer attempts to eviscerate the Stumptown Coffee mystique

  Dave writes: "I like to support local businesses, but at the same time I maintain certain standards. Stumptown Coffee Roasters, doesn’t always meet them (and I know that puts me in the minority here in Portland).

  It’s clear from Ethan Epstein’s New York Press article Totally Stumped, that he’s not a huge fan of Stumptown either. But for him it’s not just about the french press coffee. "

Related Posts

• August 16, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for August 16th (0)
• August 10, 2009 -- Only 6 More Days ‘Til Pie Nirvana! (4)
• February 9, 2010 -- A Little Evening Buzz (1)
• January 7, 2010 -- OurPDX Shared Links for 1/7 (0)
• November 30, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for 11/29 (2)

Arlington Heights, Aug 30, 2008

Originally uploaded by dieselboi

Such a wonderful day of baking pie. Congrats to Zoe and Tricia for winning in their categories….well done. Since Betsy didn’t mention me in her post, I’m gonna promote my own pies. I decided to go outside the box and make MEAT PIES. Yep, the Internets are a wonderful resource for finding recipes and I found one. I decided to make one veggie and one meat. The B pie was made with Spicy Italian sausage, organic red potatoes, red onion, crimini mushrooms, Italian parsley and seasonings. The D pie was made from Tofurky Italian veggie sausage, organic fingerling potatoes, red onion, crimini mushrooms, Italian parsley and seasonings.

I know I didn’t win and that’s cool. They weren’t prepared for Savory pies and honestly, I was competing with Tricia. I guess I should maybe think about taking my meat pies to farmer’s markets.
Seriously, I had a wonderful time making the pies, twitting about the process and presenting my work. I love cooking and at the end of the event, I realized others in Portland also love my cooking. Thank you.

And as Betsy said – thank you to the organizers. Well done!  Recipe after the jump.

Here’s the recipe I used for both my pies.  The only change was one had veggie sausage and the other had meat.

Dieselboi’s Veggie Sausage Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb Veggie Sausage

4 cups diced cooked potatoes

2 onions, minced

½ cup celery, diced

2 ¼ cup flour

2/3 cup shortening

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Milk to cover

Crust:

Combine flower and 1 ½ tbsp salt in a mixing bowl. Add shortening and cut in with whisk or blender until mixture is sufficiently blended – looks like peas. Add filtered cold water by the tablespoon while tossing lightly with a fork. Use only enough water to hold the pastry together when it is pressed between the fingers. Pastry shouldn’t be wet. Roll dough into a round ball, handling as little as possible. Roll out on a lightly floured board into a circle 1/8 inch thick. Line the bottom and sides of a flat backing dish with the pastry. Save a small ball of pastry for the top.

Insides:

Boil a few potatoes for approximately 15 minutes. Soft enough to cut into thin slices. Layer potatoes and veggie sausage with other ingredients until pie is full. I use Tofurkey Italian Sausage and cut the sausage on the bias. Add the celery, onion, parsley (use Italian Parsley for extra flavor.) Every so often while filling, toss in a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper. Once filled, cover with warm buttermilk or a corn starch roux. Cover with remaining pastry. Cook at 350 for 1 hr.

Thoughts:

As stated, I use Tofurkey Italian Sausage links cut on the bias. Pretty tasty. You can also add garlic, peppers, mushrooms and any seasoning to flavor your pie. Another veggie sausage option is GimmeLean sausage style veggie sausage.

Related Posts

• August 10, 2009 -- Only 6 More Days ‘Til Pie Nirvana! (4)
• July 29, 2008 -- Mmmm…pie! (3)
• October 5, 2009 -- SLL: Art Night with Mark Colman (0)
• August 17, 2009 -- SLL: WordcampPdx 2009, Urban Airship and PIE (0)
• June 4, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for June 4th (0)

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?

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• August 28, 2008 -- My Winning Pie-Off Strategy (11)
• August 9, 2008 -- OurPDX shared bookmarks for August 9th (0)
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• August 10, 2009 -- Only 6 More Days ‘Til Pie Nirvana! (4)
• June 4, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for June 4th (0)

Yes, I’m one of the hordes of people who will be baking a pie and taking it down to Washington Park on Saturday for the Pie-Off.

Yes, that Pie-Off—the one WWeek featured earlier this week, the one that had potential contestants on Twitter grousing about how “intimidating” it sounded now.

Intimidating? Who cares that an 8-time winner of blue ribbons at the Oregon State Fair might be showing up, pies in hand? Or that the new darling of the food cart scene, Sugar Cube pastry chef Kir Jensen, is one of the judges? See, I’m determined—and I’ve got my three-part strategic plan down, baby. I don’t even mind revealing it to y’all, either:

1. Pick a niche. Anyone can try for the Best Pumpkin Pie, or Best Creme Pie. But I’m going to strike a pose for originality, myself. (Just you wait and see!)
2. Develop a schtick. See, my daughter and I are showing up as the mother-daughter team, each with our own pies. And I dare those judges to look into my angelic child’s eyes (or see her modeling her own custom hand-crafted LeLo apron) and deny her a ribbon…

which leads to item number three

3. Suck up to the judges. Starting…now. Oh, Mr. Bogdanski? Have I told you lately how much I love you? (In a purely admiring and/or platonic way, of course.) And Gary Walter—your children are both beautiful and clearly, undeniably intelligent. (They must take after both parents.) Kir? I don’t know you personally, but I love what you do. (Also see previous sucking-up above.)

Sure, I could just decide to rock it out with a world-class pie or something. And who knows—I just might. But in this season of political maneuverings and/or shenanigans, it may not hurt to have a little something-something in your back pocket—if you want to walk away with a blue ribbon, that is.

Soooo—bring it. Saturday at 3 pm at Washington Park.

We’ll be waiting…!

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• August 30, 2008 -- Pie-Off: Our Eyewitness Report (14)
• August 9, 2008 -- OurPDX shared bookmarks for August 9th (0)
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• August 10, 2009 -- Only 6 More Days ‘Til Pie Nirvana! (4)
• June 4, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for June 4th (0)

Here’s what we’ve found as we’ve traveled the local PDX web (complete with our comments) for August 9th

• Peterson’s saved (Jack Bog’s Blog) – Thanks to Bojack, The Merc & others for keeping the spotlight on this story until justice was done!
• The Bite of Oregon: Day 1 Photo Gallery – The Lunch Lady over at Stumptown Lunch went to The Bite both Friday and Saturday for me (can't squeeze it in my own agenda) – check out the photos & commentary, or follow her on Twitter: stumptownlunch.
• Pie-Off!: And yes, the pies will be judged – Hmmm…that means it's time for me to suck up to the intelligent, discerning, all-knowing judges, no? Yes!

Note: you can share bookmarks back to our site if you have a Mag.nolia account – just join our group and then send relevant links to that group when you mark a site, article, or post!

Related Posts

• August 30, 2008 -- Pie-Off: Our Eyewitness Report (14)
• August 28, 2008 -- My Winning Pie-Off Strategy (11)
• July 29, 2008 -- Mmmm…pie! (3)
• August 10, 2009 -- Only 6 More Days ‘Til Pie Nirvana! (4)
• June 4, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for June 4th (0)

It started (as all good things do lately, it seems) on Twitter.

The pie smack talk, that is.

Lelo may have been boasting about the blackberry pie she had cooling on her counter just then. Or RadioGretchen might have been talking about never, ever having made a peach pie before. Maybe it was LizzyCaston bragging about her mom’s famous Lemon Chess Pie recipe.

Next thing you know, well – some people now have to put up or shut up. Yep, their good pie-baking reps are now on the line. Others just want to volunteer for the oh so onerous task of judging. And there’s even a new #mmmpie hashtag you can use to follow the madness.

Yes, it’s a Pie-Off!

So sharpen up those forks and knives, mark your calendars for Saturday, August 30th at 3 pm (at a location to be determined), and offer up your finest pies.

And yes, I’ll be there with my own humble creation. (I’m thinking peach-blueberry, which means I’d better get to freezing some of those Oregon blueberries soon…!)

Related Posts

• August 10, 2009 -- Only 6 More Days ‘Til Pie Nirvana! (4)
• August 30, 2008 -- Portland MEAT Pies – Pie Off (12)
• August 30, 2008 -- Pie-Off: Our Eyewitness Report (14)
• August 28, 2008 -- My Winning Pie-Off Strategy (11)
• August 9, 2008 -- OurPDX shared bookmarks for August 9th (0)