The Kid-size HFM T-shirts are finally in and so are last week's pie contest results

Hastings resident Mary-Ann Kingston is having a pretty good week.Last Saturday, she took first place at our annual Hastings Farmers Market pie contest - AGAIN. Her Pear Ginger Maple Pecan pie really captured our judges' hearts and our "autumn" theme, a departure from our traditional apple. She had wanted to bake a black walnut pie, she said, but wasn't able to forage any black walnuts on the Aqueduct Trail this year. If you've been lucky to see Mary-Ann's "farmlet" at the Community Gardens, then you know that Mary-Ann is quite the forager and gardener. Since she wasn't able to stay for the results last Saturday, she dropped by the Irvington Farmers Market on Wednesday to collect her pie pan and prize (a lovely Kim Sava apron). I casually mentioned that we were having an "anything apple" baking contest in Irvington that day, so it would be best if she came on the early side. Wouldn't you know it, she showed up with a pan of Apple Pecan Pudding that she had just whipped up after work "because I didn't want to show up empty handed." Wouldn't you know it, her pudding took first place in Irvington, too. It goes without saying that we hope Mary-Ann Kingston will be a judge rather than a contestant next year. Thanks to this year's judges: Mayor Swiderski, Andre Bernard, past winner Lori Walsh and new Hastings resident (and resident foodie) Jenny Dirksen.

Here is the story she submitted with her pie in Hastings last week. It should help explain why her pies are so darn delicious.

"Times certainly have changed. When I was a student at the University of Michigan, my best girlfriend, Katy Clark and I had pie-baking contests in our free time. Our friends, mostly male, were the judges. Katy maintained that the best way to roll out a pie crust was on a floured board; I favored rolling it out between two sheets of waxed paper.  I liked this method because no extra flour was incorporated into the dough, thereby altering its consistency.  To this day, I still use this method. Katy and I baked all sorts of pies: apple, pumpkin, strawberry-rhubarb, and custard. In fact, I still have her recipe for a lemon pie that uses peeled segments of lemon rather than lemon pudding or curd. Sometimes my pies won the approval of our judges. Sometimes Katy won. Our male friends loved our competition and willingly consumed our pies, preventing Katy and me from gaining weight." Her recipe was adapted from recipes she found in "The Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook," and SimplyRecipes.com.
Her  streusel topping was from "The Joy of Cooking." We will be posting it on the website next week. David Di Bari's caramelized Honey Crisp Apple "pizza pie" with pumpkin crumble won for "most original" pie and the mom & daughter team (Marisa Silverstein baked, Nina Silverstein, 11, wrote the accompanying pie poem) won for best piece of pie prose. Here is her poem:

the crust

is like

a large

dried up

maple leaf

that falls

to the

ground

in the

midst

of October

crispy,

yet a beautiful

cinnamon brown

the crust

blankets

the apples

in a

cuddly hug

the apples,

freshly picked,

looked like

little ruby

necklaces

dangling

from a

jewelry holder

on the

apple tree

holding

the warm

apple pie

is

just like

holding

a cup

of

hot chocolate

on a

cold, winter day

the pie

is coated

with stars,

that sparkle

in the

light

finally,

the

First Bite

is cut,

and scooped

and eaten

And it is

delicious

just like

a delightful

dessert

should be

Tomorrow: Cowberry Crossing will be at the market. So will Clean Ridge Soap Co. Bacon (as in Mtn. Smokehouse)  returns from a bri ef hiatus.

Music will be provided by the Luke Franco Jazz Trio- it's their first time at the market, please make them feel welcome!