I think many of you will remember my victorious turn in the 6th annual Oakland Pie-Off two years ago--my Ginger Peach (my second pie effort ever, I should add) came in 9th in a pool of over 90 pies. I regard this as one of my greatest accomplishments. I missed the 2004 contest, but this year's was yesterday. I'd like to thank the contributors to this year's pie--Matthew Africa (graphic designer, pie baker) and Brooks and Autumn (official taste testers).
Flavor? Banana cream.
How to make the perfect pie? Bake, bake, and bake again. We tried four variations on Saturday:
-Cook's Illustrated Vanilla Cream with bananas, traditional flake crust with graham cracker crumbs baked in.
-New York Times Cookbook sour cream banana filling, graham cracker crust
-Pie Every Day graham cracker crust and oreo crust (this second was a failure; apparently you're supposed to scrape out the cream filling before grinding the cookies); berry-cheese cake filling (I was in the mood for cheesecake)
The winner: Cook's Illustrated crust, NYT sour cream banana filling. The filling really is exceptional--I loved it and I don't even like banana pies.
The verdict? Nothing! There are 5 official pie categories, of which banana falls into "other." Apparently the judges this year decided that they would only advance "other" pies that were entirely non-traditional. Mango made it to the final round.
While both Matt and I are taking this loss hard, I'm determined to try again and crack the top five. Any votes for next year's flavor? Post a comment.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Camping on Mount Tam
Well, I'm back. I've ignored the blog for a few weeks--it's harder to write these things when you're not going to a new city every few days. I have been to a number of interesting places, however. Zac and Eliza Sorenson-Wald (my former nieghbors) were kind enough to take me in for the first two weeks. They have a beautiful daughter, Sophie, who's learning to talk and is a lot of fun to be around. She calls me "A-Gee-Sha."
Liza, Sophie, Walker (Sophie's best friend), and Walker's parents Kiera & Steve and I spent a night last week up at the West Point Inn on Mount Tam. It's a hike-in hotel (2-3 miles each way, which is rather hard with two toddlers in tow) with incredible views. There's a fully equipped kitchen and a fun common room. I'd definitely do it again. While it's not exactly a romantic getaway--you share the common space with all the other guests--it's perfect for an outting with a group of friends.
Beaches in Oakland?
Yes, they do exist. I had never visited Lake Temescal before, but I had clearly been missing out. The water is clean (much cleaner than Lake Anza, the lifeguards are proud to say), there's a great area for laps, and it's just two exits off the freeway from my house. Sophie likes it too.
The beach in Alameda
There are beaches in Alameda, too--who knew? Zac and Eliza's favorite stretch is right by the MacDonald's--there's tons of parking, very few crowds, and a Trader Joe's for shopping when you're done.
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