Monday, September 12, 2011

Art & Apples

What a busy weekend! Saturday dawned gloomy and rainy but we had high hopes it would clear up later in the morning. This weekend was the Art & Apples festival in a nearby town and Earl had perfected his Carmel Apple cheescake recipe for the baking contest.  We got up early and headed for our Saturday morning coffee date at Panera, discussed the days plans over coffee and a bagel and came home to put the finishing touches on his entry.
 By the time we reached the park the sun was beginning to break through the clouds and within minutes it was shining brightly.  There were so many delicious looking pies and desserts we started to wonder just what one has to do to get the honor of judging in one of these contests!Just look at those cute apple cake pops! It all looks good, and we knew it would be a tough competition.
 And speaking of competition, it didn't take long to realize this was ours, the guy in the white cap, I stealthily snapped his pic to show you. His name was Kevin and he was a professional baker, and his entry was a cheesecake too! Hmmmm....
 I kept a close eye on the judges as they tasted their way through the entries. The older lady was careful to give nothing away by her expressions. The guy who was judging was the local Mayor and was focused on eating . He wasn't giving much away either. But the cute brunette, a local newscaster, took one bite of Earl's entry and exclaimed "Oh my gosh!" I thought he had a good chance after that.
 I was right. Congratulation on winning Best Apple Dessert sweetheart!
 The prize? A handmade pie plate and blue ribbon, but the fun we had with this was even better.  After he won we went out to lunch to celebrate, hung out in the bookstore for a while, he helped a friend set up for a party and then we went home and baked two pies for the potluck our church had Sunday to install the new Pastor. I think we finished the pies around midnight. Whew! Whirlwind weekend but it was all good. It's back to work this morning and the week ahead is full of possibility. Enjoy your week full of possibility too. I hope your weekend was as good as ours!

22 comments:

  1. *** CONGRATULATIONS! ***
    That is awesome. :0)
    And what a nice weekend you had. :0)
    Does Earl ship to us here in the south?! :0)

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  2. That is so cool! Congratulations Earl! You guys put so much love into everything you do. I wasn't at all surprised that he won.

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  3. YEAH!!! Congrats to Earl on his win. It looked delicious!
    Hugs,
    Penny

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  4. OMGosh!!!!!

    How awesome is that?????

    Congratulations to your hubby..you must have been so proud.

    That cheesecake looks absolutely divine!!!

    So happy for Earl.

    janet xox

    PS.....I have a plate and fork...now just waiting for my cheesecake
    ;->

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  5. Congrats to your hubby for his baking skills! I would love to be a taste judge. yummo!
    Blessings~

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  6. CONGRATULATIONS to Earl and I think you deserve Congrats too Kathy. You supported him and just plain love him which is why he done so well. The cheesecake does look perfect. Glad you had fun which is the most important. Our weekend was awesome also. We bought a couch and love seat at an auction for $150. for our living room and it looks brand new!! It was a LUCKY day!!

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  7. When I 1st saw that photo of Earl's pie I was going to ask you if he was a professional baker!
    I can see why he won. If that cheesecake tasted as good as it looked, the decision had to be a no brainer for the judges!
    Sounds like the whole day was a fun one.
    Blessings-Kimberly

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  8. Do you think one of Earl's cheesecakes would make the trip out to California!?

    Congrats, EARL!!!!! Your cheesecake is making my mouth water and I'd love a piece to go with my morning cup of coffee!

    LOL about the faces of the judges. The newscaster is hilarious!

    xxoo
    Becky

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  9. I had no doubt Earl would win!
    that drizzly topping looks the best.
    those apple pops are so cute!

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  10. Do you have the recipe for the very first Apple cake? It looks sooooo good!!!!

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  11. {{{{{ EARL }}}}}....YAY...
    CONGRATULATIONS.
    I never for one minute, doubted that you would win. I can tell you are one heck of a cook...and I just know those ladies standing beside you couldn't BELIEVE a MAN beat 'em.
    hahahaaaa...I LOVE IT.
    and I am going to make your cheesecake very soon.

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  12. Congratulations to my fabulous chef-ly brother! Mom told me when I called her on our way home so I couldn't wait to see if you'd post pics.

    I'm so proud of you, Earl! Not surprised in the least, but very proud.

    Love you both!

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  13. That cheesecake looks absolutely delish...can you share the recipe or is it a family secret?

    By the way, Earl could have at least smiled just a bit for winning and beating out the professional chef!! LOL I'll smile for him :D How's that?

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  14. Earl...I can verify that your sister is proud of you...she told me in an email that you had won. Congratulations on a job very well done!!

    Chelsea will enter her Hershey Brownies in the fair tomorrow. She won last year so the bar has been set.

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  15. Congrats to your husband! I'm not at all surprised by his win.

    That judge on the left took her job verrrrrrrrrry seriously!

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  16. Great win for hubby, I adore how your apple desert looked though!! Yummy all!!

    xoxo
    Karena

    Art by Karena

    I have a fabulous Giveaway from Interieurs I hope you will come and join!

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  17. YAY!!! Of course he won! That cheesecake looked extremely delicious! Glad you had such a great weekend!

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  18. Oh my goodness, I just love this! My stomach is growling...congratulations!

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  19. Congratulations to Earl!!! Even from way over here in California, his cheesecake looked fabulous! ::Jill

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  20. Yummy!!!! Oh that cheese cakes looks wonderful!
    Congratulations to Earl.....he should write a cook book with all his wonderful recipes!

    Miss you,
    Dolly

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  21. Congratulations to Earl!! That cheesecake looked so good I'd have been surprised if it hadn't won (and I don't even know how delicious it tasted!). All the entries looked good but there is something that says "pro" about Earl's...you could see his loving attention to detail!

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