Pie! Oh My!

Today was pie day! Apple, cherry, peanut butter, chocolate, lemon, lemon/orange, coconut, coconut/oatmeal, fruit medley, peach, butterscotch, black walnut, tomato pie, and so much more. Those are just a few of pies I taste tested today at the State Fair. We got started at 9 AM with the apple pies and I started off strong. I was taking generous bites at the beginning of the day but by the end of the day I was forcing the fork into my mouth. Here is how everything went down...down my throat that is!

I was in the culinary wing of the Convention Center and there were tables and tables and tables of food. Breads, cakes, cookies, cupcakes, wedding cakes, jams, pies, pizza, and anything else you could bake up. Tables are covered with butcher paper and are numbered for the culinary category. Once all the entries in the category are organized, we could begin cutting. We would cut a generous portion of pie, lay it on the table and all taste test from it. After taste testing all entries, we would then determine the top 3.

Now some pies are better than others. You have to remember that these pies were probably made this weekend. I say that because on one apple pie there was a little mold. We didn't eat that pie needless to say. Some pies are not fully cooked and are runny. Others have burnt toppings. Some are bland. Others are thick. Some crusts are hard. You see, not all pies are made the same and that is what I had to judge today.

By lunch I was sick of pies. So when they needed me to judge pizza pies I was excited to taste something a little more savory. An FCS agent and I cut a piece from each pizza, heated it up in a toaster oven, and then judged. We had probably 20 pizzas which was nothing compared to the number of fruit and cream pies we had to judge.

After we got through the pizza pies, the official state fair culinary guy passed around a lunch ticket for everyone. I looked at it and wanted to laugh. How was I supposed to eat lunch? I had been eating since 9 AM! So during my lunch break, I passed Freddy Farm Bureau, walked through the elephant ear and tasty dog stands, and made my way to Cloverville and caught up with the District 7 agents. After getting caught up, I thought I was done. Nope...we had to finish up 10 more pies. We placed our ranks and I grabbed my bag, now I was ready to head home. Just a second. How could we forget the pot pies and calzones! 5 pot pies and 3 calzones later, we were finished.

Overall it was a great day. There are many wonderful bakers in this state. But please don't ask me over for pie anytime soon!