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Just prior to the judging of 35 apple pie entries at the 4th Annual Pie Fest at Shelburne Orchards on September 25, Nick Cowles asked for silence from the jittery crowd. “Before we start, I’d like to explain what we do here at Shelburne Orchards”, he stated. “We close our eyes, hold a pie in each hand, and balance carefully on one foot---we call this ‘Pie Chi’”. As laughter rippled through the Cider House, the serious work began. It was time to critique the apple pies which had been baked by kids, fathers and daughters, siblings, young and old alike. Judges included Dana Adams, “Judge by Cajolery”*; Colleen Coburn, Pastry Chef at Middlebury Inn; Mary Myers, last year’s First Prize Winner; and Andrew Silva, Co-Owner of Mirabelle’s. Forkful by forkful, judges considered the overall appearance as well as the quality of the filling and crust.
Melissa Frechette won a $100 gift certificate to the Starry Night Café for her “Most Outrageous Pie”, a pie replete with layers of gooey candy and caramel apple slices. Melissa’s inspiration came from the fact that, in this category, looks are all that matter. “I went with the fall and Halloween theme and filled it with sweet tarts, Snickers, m &m’s, 3 Musketeers, and peppermint patties topped off with gummy worms and orange pumpkin Peeps.”. Patricia Fontaine, volunteering for the day, commented that she “felt privileged to be there as folks came in bearing beautiful pies with their hopeful and radiant, but serious, faces”. Patricia summed up the day when she concluded that “apple pie is so quintessentially New England in the fall”. *Cajolery, 1. to persuade with deliberate flattery especially in the face of reluctance, 2. to deceive with soothing words or false promises. It was cool in the morning as runners and walkers gathered to
register for the race, stretch out muscles, and chat with friends.
Suddenly,
they were off and running (or walking) through the orchard. And
here are the end results of everyone's efforts:
Here is more information on the Cider
House Run. Click on "Results", "2005",
and then "Cider House Run".
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Us photo credits: Stephen Brooks, Brett Carpenter, Kevin Clayton, Cindy Cowles, Brent Harrewyn, Terry Hotaling, Amie Humphrey, David Humphrey, Megan Humphrey, Nick Seifert, Tucker Watson, and Natalie Stultz Shelburne Orchards | 216 Orchard Road | Shelburne
VT 05482
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An hour later, with
every pie tasted, anonymous scores were tallied. The Nuovo sisters,
Sofia (age 5) and Giuliana (age 9), were announced
as the winners of the “Apple of My Eye Pie” with a
$200 cash prize awarded. When asked what she thought the winning
ingredient was, Sofia paused and exclaimed, “Vanilla…and
love!”. The girls have decided to “buy stuff for our
American Girl dolls, oh, and put a little in the bank” with
their prize winnings. 