And the WINNER is....Jenna

No, not me. The "other Jenna."      

This is probably why I have been delinquent in updating the blog. I will admit it. We are only two contests in and I am already sick and tired of defeat. But I will put on my big girl pants and celebrate Jenna's win for a truly beautiful and delicious apple pie.

This round of the AACC challenge was definitely better structured because we had more judges (thank you Julie, Jaime and Nick) which helped a lot. AJ, Jenna and Tim all created a variation of apple pie and I, being the odd man out, made a peach crumble pie. So obviously the odds were already a little against me. Tim led me to believe he was going to make a lemon meringue pie, but changed his mind at the last minute. Instead he showed up with this......

He probably should have stuck with the lemon meringue. This was supposed to be an apple pie with a
walnut crumble on top, but Tim burned the pie and then did not let it rest so it really crumbled (and not in the good way). As I am writing this, I am thankful Tim rarely uses the Internet and probably does not bother to read this blog. :)

I took a little more time with my placement of peaches this time to try and even out the ratio of peach to crumble topping.

AJ chose to make a carmel apple pie with not only a crumble, but a lattice, too! He definitely won for the pie that was most technically advanced. It was delicious. Both Julie and I voted for his creation (everyone else voted for Jenna's -- I had to vote for my husband's this time to avoid another guilt trip). I particularly enjoyed the cinnamon graham cracker topping AJ topped the pie with. And his homemade whipped cream was to die for. We all voted he would win that contest should there every be one! Here is his pie prior to baking....

     

And here is the pie post baking....

Jenna also made a very traditional apple pie with a lattice crust, as well. She used two variations of apples which incorporated both a sweet and tart taste (I believe she used Granny Smith and Red Delicious). Her crust was light and flaky....as Martha Stewart would say "Its a good thing."

Her lattice was so perfect and tight that it actually
resembles a crumble...it looked like a piece of art.

She rightfully deserved the trophy for the best pie. The contest was so inspiring that our guest judges all decided they want in on the next challenge. After going around the table for every one's suggestion for the next one....we decide on meatloaf. This makes me a little nervous because AJ makes a mean meatloaf, but I am not scared. I think I have found the winning recipe for this one.

We have also incorporated a blind taste test into our AACC meetings....much like the do in Hell's Kitchen each contestant is blind folded and fed four different foods/ingredients and we have to write down what we think it was we ate. It can be raw or cooked. Jenna M. chose the ingredients for this first time and she picked very challenging stuff. Two of the four I had never even tasted before so, of course, I found this to be unfair. Just kidding.....it was tough. Only Geoff and AJ got 3 out of the 4 correct. They were 1) Bamboo Shoot 2) Mashed Peas (it was really baby food and this is the only one I got right!) 3) Tofu and 4) SPAM!

AJ got Spam right and my respect for him lessened just a little. GROSS! Thankfully, my mother never tried to feed me that crap growing up. Thank you Mom!

This was a great addition and Julie volunteered to provide the ingredients for the next meeting....this will be interesting -- I already know it. This is the part I might be scared about.

After all the excitement Tim passed the trophy onto his sister.

But first, I had to take his photo with the hardware to prove he won the first time (we did not have the trophy in time for his win).

And finally an AACC group photo, but we will have to take a new one when we gather again for the meatloaf challenge, but 3 more smiles will join the ever growing and popular club. What can I say? We are trendsetters!

And CONGRATS again Jenna for your Advanced Apple Pie Awesomeness!