Month: September 2010

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A Day of Food, Wine, and Pie

Well, I didn’t win the Good Food Pie Contest, but Sunday was a lot of fun just the same. The husband and I did a babysitting trade with friends and had the entire day to spend together.

We started out at the LA Times Food and Wine Festival at Paramount Studios and watched a panel with The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond and Aarti Sequeira (Aarti Paarti), a food blogger and this season’s winner of The Next Food Network Star. They were lovely and interesting and shared a lot of great stories about their early days of blogging.

LA Times Assistant Food Editor Rene Lynch, Ree, and Aarti

We hung around the festival for a couple of hours and ate scrumptious tacos from the Bool food truck and sampled a couple of different wines. Our favorites, Sin Zin and Cyrus, were from Alexander Valley Vineyards. Our favorite cocktail was the PB & J from Alie & Georgia , pictured below. It had peanut butter around the rim and a handful of fresh raspberries in the cup.

After a couple of hours at the festival we were hot and tired, but we managed to make it to Beverly Hills for the KCRW pie contest. There was an apron fashion show and 120 pies to taste. The grand prize winner, Yuichiro Sato, made a savory meat pie and it was beautiful. Here are photos of some of the amazing and tasty pies.

After the contest was over we jumped in the car and headed back to Paramount to see the band She & Him perform. Zooey Deschanel’s voice is beautiful and I’m a big fan of the band. It wasn’t what I would call an exciting performance, but it was a nice way to end the festival.

Speaking of the festival. I had mixed feelings about it. It should have been called the LA Times Food Trucks and Some Wine Festival. We had general admission tickets (which we got half price), but I think our experience would have been completely different if we’d bought the VIP tickets (they were sold out), which included food tasting as well as wine. There was hardly any food for tasting, or even purchase, other than the food trucks, and by early afternoon the lines for nearly everything were very long. Here is my husband’s review of the festival.  “After all was said and done, it was a nice chance to try some wine, but I don’t feel like we got any understanding or appreciation for food, especially with the diversity that should be available from Los Angeles’s restaurants.” From what I read, the VIP section had a lot of local restaurants, but not the case for the rest of the festival.

The panels were fun, though, and it was interesting being on the Paramount lot.

Our adventure didn’t end there. We took full advantage of having a babysitter and ended our very long day at the Landmark Theatre where we saw a movie snuggled up on a couch in the screening lounge. The pie, the wine, the food, and the movie were all great, but the best part of the day was that I got to spend it with my husband.

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Wii Summer Games

I felt like a terrible mother on Thursday. I had promised my boys we would do something fun, but I didn’t really give them the full story. I planned to take them to the gym in the morning and then the pool (the fun part) in the afternoon. They had so much going on this week that I thought a quiet day would be good for them.

But I still had to get work done even though they were home with me. So I spent Thursday morning telling my 5 and 6 year old boys to “be patient” and “we’ll leave in 5 minutes” over and over. By the time we got to the gym we were all tired. I ran on the treadmill for the first time in a long time and it felt terrible. I couldn’t breathe and I couldn’t get into a groove. I felt like I was going to throw up, but I had paid for an hour of childcare at the gym and I was determined to get my money’s worth (and my boys love it there).

Still feeling sick, I dragged the kids out of the gym and to the grocery store. We went home and after lunch I put on a movie for the boys and fell asleep working on my laptop. I never nap, ever. I woke up as the movie was ending and felt so sick we had to skip the pool.  So much for the “fun” part of the day for the boys.

That day set the bar low for Friday, when my kids claimed I was the best mom in the world. I took my boys to Redondo Beach for the Wii Games: 2010 National Championships. It was awesome. We went to the press event on Friday morning, which was nice because I was able to talk to some of the competitors before they were whisked away to play.

Julie Williamson was thrilled when her 14-year-old son, Josh, and his friend won a spot in the Wii Games. Nintendo flew them out from Burton, Ohio and put them up in a hotel in Redondo. Josh gets to compete with other teen teams in his division to win prizes including a custom Wii remote. The competitors try to get the highest scores playing hoola hoop in Wii fit and basketball and bowling in Sports Resort. Josh’s dream is to someday work for Nintendo.

John Venegas, 16, also loves Nintendo and describes himself as a hardcore fan. He practiced every day before he made the trip from Arlington, Texas with his mom.

“I’m so excited,” his mom Yanira Vanegas said. “I feel like I’m at Disneyland.”

My kids weren’t competing for anything, but they felt the same way. The Wii Summer Games tent had two levels, one to watch the competition and another to try out the games. Each time the kids played a game, from Wii Fit to Super Mario Galaxy, they got a coin sticker. The coin stickers bought prizes. I know they were happy to play the games, but I think they had the most fun running around the kids play area and waving at Mario and Luigi.

The games will be going on from 11 am to 6 pm Sunday. Here is a little video from the opening ceremony. The quality gets better a minute or so in.

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KCRW Good Food Pie Contest

I’m so excited about this weekend. I entered 2 gluten-free pies in the KCRW Good Food Pie Contest, a Tres Leches Pie and a Mixed Berry and Cherry Pie with Almond Streusel Topping.

Between me and you and the 790 people who follow me on Twitter, I’m having a lot of trouble with my Tres Leches Pie. I had the idea for the pie one night after feasting on an amazing budino and came up with a recipe. I made it before I went on vacation and it was way too rich. Also the crust wasn’t right. I made the pie again this week and changed the ingredients. I fixed the crust problem, but even though the pie filling tasted incredible, it wouldn’t set. I don’t think the judges are going to want a Tres Leches smoothie so I have some work to do!!!

I hope you can make it to the contest. It’s free. That’s right, free pie!! Here are the details.

KCRW’S GOOD FOOD PIE CONTEST IS
BIGGER THAN EVER – over 200 PIES REGISTERED!

GET A TASTE ON SUN., SEPTEMBER 5

*FREE EVENT, FREE PIE* AT TASTE OF BEVERLY HILLS
*No Taste of Beverly Hills pass required!*
8 CELEB CHEFS to JUDGE, AWARD RIBBONS & PRIZES
Plus: APRON FASHION SHOW !

Summer’s nearly over and with it goes the GOOD FOOD PIE-A-DAY BLOG and PIE CAST (weekly podcast). Now it’s time for the GOOD FOOD PIECONTEST!

Public radio station 89.9 FM/KCRW-Santa Monica’s SECOND ANNUAL GOOD FOOD PIE CONTEST takes place on SUNDAY, SEP. 5 from 4 to 6 pm in the event area behind the Beverly Hilton Hotel as part of the TASTE OF BEVERLY HILLS FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL.

Good Food host Evan Kleiman emcees the event and a panel of 8 local chef celebrities will judge the more than 200 registered pies in five categories (as well as Best in Show) including: fruit pies; nut pies; savory pies; “interpretive” pies (defies categorization); and cream/custard/chiffon/mousse pies.Plus—a new category has been added: BEST CRUST!

A special feature of the Pie Contest this year: an Apron Fashion Show, with new and vintage aprons on display, courtesy of Urban Craft Center of Santa Monica, with music by KCRW DJ Chris Douridas.

The Pie-a-Day blog also boasted its own special feature this year: PIECASTS, podcasts expressly about pie with such renowned foodies and pie-fans asAnthony Bourdain and Rick Bayless, who tell crusty, well-filled tales about their passion for pies.

The Pie-a-Day blog started last year, as Good Food host Evan Kleiman challenged herself to bake a pie a day all summer and to blog about it. It became so popular that the pie-baking and blogging continued to November, culminating in the first Good Food Pie Contest held at Westfield Topanga Plaza. More than 400 people showed up, and 9 judges determined 4 winners plus Best in Show from the 125 entries. Everyone went home with crumbs or cream on their lips, as not a tiny sliver of pie remained on the tables.

This year, Evan created a pie community around the Pie-a-Day blog, featuring pictures, stories and recipes from leading chefs, bloggers and cookbook authors, as well as baking a few pies herself. As of today (8/31), 57 pies have been featured on the blog. There are Gluten Free Pies, Vegan Pies, a Kosher Pie, fruits of the summer pies, ethnic variations on pies and so much more.

This year’s Pie Contest judges include:

Jonathan Gold (Pulitzer Prize-winning food writer for the LA Weekly) Roxanna Jullapat (Pastry Chef, Ammo Cafe)
Zoe Nathan (Chef/Owner of Huckleberry Cafe)
Akasha Richmond (Chef/Owner Akasha)
Karen Hatfield (Pastry Chef, Hatfield’s)
Eric Greenspan (Chef/Owner The Foundry on Melrose)
Christine Moore (Little Flower Candy Company)
Sang Yoon (Father’s Office)