Michigan Apple Committee Official Blog

During the last weekend in April, I attended the National Pie Festival in Orlando, Florida. The weekend started out with the National Pie Championships. Bakers from all over the country were put to work attempting for the $5000 prize for best in their division. It was really exciting to see the bakers bustling around their mini-kitchens, working with a determination you wouldn’t normally associate with pie. While the bakers were slaving away, I, along with many pie coinsures, was off judging the hundreds of entries in the commercial division. I was appropriately assigned to the apple pie division. Needless-to-say six hours and 24 pies later, I was ready to be released from my pie judging obligations. The next day was the Great American Pie Festival. The festival included the endless pie buffet, the pie eating contest, games for the kids, and lots of stage entertainment. I had the honor of opening the festival by tasting the first piece of pie with the Food Network’s Keegan Gerhard and members of the National Pie Council. It was a certainly one trip to Florida I will never forget.