A Very Rough Day- Judging a Pie Bake-Off

Today was was a horribly TOUGH kind of day.

i was forced to judge a pie baking contest.

i had texted my friend Abel to ask if he carried dried Chipotle peppers since I’m obsessed with cooking out of this cookbook right now. He promptly texted back to let me know that his shop, Savory Spice Shop (Oklahoma City) carries black, red and brown varieties which made me a happy camper.

Then he asked if I’d consider being a judge in their 2nd Annual Pie Baking Competition.

Would anyone really be stupid enough to say no to such an offer?

So today was the day, and yes I managed to live through it.

We started out by judging the savory category, which meant that savory pies or sweet pies that contained a savory ingredient were classified as such.

Like these Green Chile Apple Phyllo Tarts. Scrumptious!

Or this Ancho Chocolate Cream Pie. SWOON.

However, this Cajun Meat Pie was our winner. It was absolutely superb!

The sweet category was almost impossible to pick.

This strawberry cream pie got most GORGEOUS!

This Buttermilk Pie got most old fashioned like grandma would make.

This Coconut Cream Pie got, well, we just LOVED it.

This pie was mysterious, even from it’s name…Three Layer.

Especially fantastic was the shortbread crust, then a pastry cream layer, then a chocolate later, then fresh whipped cream. YUM!

Any one of these pies held their own, and was delicious for a number of reasons. We debated, and debated.

But this pie was amazing in flavor, and texture.

Oh merciful heavens but this was wonderful, homey and flavorful with grated apples, and topped with a scattering of pecans.

It was our winner!

Afterwards I left with my brown paper bag of spices– Schezuan peppercorns, za’atar, freeze dried corn, Jamacain jerk spices and Mexican oregano. I always tend to do that when I visit Abel’s store.

If you haven’t been to Savory Spice Shop yet, you most certainly should sign up for their newsletter in the shop or here to keep updated on their fun events like this….